Sakura Taisen: Zero One
by Heinell no Miko
Summary: (Sakura TaisenBeyblade crossover)The Kouma Sensou moves on to the 21st century with unlikely heroes shoved into the fray.
1. Unusual summons: Vision of the Beyblade

**Important!**

Let it be clear to all who read this that all material will be based on 1) the Beyblade anime, with the time after G-Revolution as a takeoff point, and 2) the Sakura Taisen TV series, going to Sakura Taisen 2 OAV and the movie. Some material from other versions(such as the Beyblade manga) will be sporadically used as deemed suitable for the story. Sakura Taisen is 1995-2005 Sega, Red, Overworks, Bandai, and/or Media Factory; Beyblade(anime series)2001-2003 Aoki Takao/ Hudson Soft/ TAKARA/ Beyblade Project/ TV Tokyo

* * *

Blood.

Chaos.

Screams of terror filled the air as ominous, monstrous figures lashed out all their fury on all the people around him. Fire and ruins littered the landscape as he helplessly bore witness to all the carnage around him.

Then suddenly, a thunderous clang of metal and the fume of steam met his senses. As he looked up, he saw another set of ominous figures that fought off the demonic forces that razed this city.

The earth shook.

A tremendous gust of wind caught him…. and high above, he saw...

"Dragoon?"

The blue dragon loomed over him...as if trying to tell him something…

A flash of light met his eyes.

"KINOMIYAAAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAAAAGHK!" (SFX: BLAG!)

His eyes met the ceiling as he realized that his chair had fallen backwards and was now flat on his back. The room thundered with the laughter of his classmates as his seatmates looked at him helplessly.

The teacher, peppered with crossmarks, yammered, "Being the world champion doesn't give you the right to sleep in my class, Takao Kinomiya! Go stand in the corridor, RIGHT NOW!"

"Aw c'mon, Shirakawa-sensei," Takao muttered sleepily as he stood up. "with all of your assignments, who would get a decent sleep?"

"THEN WAKE YOURSELF UP IN THE CORRIDOR!"

(SFX: DING-DONG-DING-DONG...)

"It's always been like this," mumbled the blue-haired fellow, "I always get to do the water can balancing act in the corridor. Who invented assignments anyway?"

"For sleepyheads who don't know how to budget their time?"

"AAAAAGK!" (SFX: SPLASH!)

Hurriedly grabbing the water can, he looked up and saw his seatmates looking at him rather amusedly. "That's not funny, guys!"

"And skimping on schoolwork isn't funny either," said Kyoju, who adjusted his glasses for the nth time. "Don't you know how much you're lagging in your schoolwork?"

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, whatever," Takao muttered.

"And I bet you're watching too much Godzilla," seconded Max, "judging from the look on your face when you woke up a while ago. For heaven's sakes, don't do anything headlong! I mean, the next tournament will be right after the end of this school year. You hadda get in shape..."

"…that's exactly what I'm preparing for," said Takao as he squeezed the water out of his longish, navy-blue hair. "…but that's not exactly what's making me go nuts these days."

Remembering something, Max jumped forward and said "Whatever that is, better get your mind off it! Your match with Ronnie's gang's gonna start in an hour from now!"

"What?" yelled Takao, "Why didn't you say that sooner?" Paying no attention to the water can at his feet, he sent it bouncing off with a loud clang as he ran down the corridor. Max followed suit.

"Wait guys!" cried Kyoju, but the two had already disappeared into a corner. Snorting in resignation, he leaned back against a locker. "When will he ever learn to be responsible?"

"Maybe when the world's gonna end?"

From the door of a nearby classroom, Hiromi was watching the whole scene and was now beside Kyoju.

"I'm afraid it may be so, Hiromi.." He said as he let his gaze trail off into the hallway.

But far from Kyoju's assumption, Takao does have some worries set in his mind, and it was in those visions that haunted him these past days.

The bloodshed,..the monstrous figures,..I still can't get it off me.

What does it all get at?

"Ring out! Winner, Takao!"

"All right!"

Again, Ronnie's gang got a beating from the pros. They can only stare helplessly at their tops lying flat on the ground. "This can't be!" yelled Ronnie. "You cheaters!"

"Losers always say that." said Takao with the distinctive impish grin, "I'd suggest that you better train hard for you to get to our level."

"Would you stop being arrogant, Takao?" said Kyoju, who has his trusty old laptop with him as usual. "It's not very becoming of you. And besides, all your bragging might get back to you!"

"Aw c'mon Kyoju, enough of that karma thing. Isn't my victories enough proof that I have the right to brag?" as he said this, he stooped down to pick up his Dragoon that was still spinning in the Beystadium.

"But.."

The whole tirade was cut short when suddenly; a strong earthquake shook the whole area. Everybody struggled to stay still as they crouched down, but the tremor was so strong that some fell down the ground.

As the ground shook, the Beystadium tipped over and Dragoon came flying out, straight to Takao... and as it met his eyes, its dark pansy iris widened as he saw, not a Beyblade, but...a machine...steel, almost humanoid machine...a robot…and it flew straight at him.

"AAAAAAAGH! A FLYING HOUSE!"

(SFX: TONK!)

As the earthquake receded, the people in the area slowly regained their bearings and stared at each other.

"That was a pretty strong tremor," said Hiromi, as the others around them said the same.

"Maybe old Fujiyama's at it again," commented Max, "isn't it, Takao…EH!"

Everybody facefaulted as they saw Takao lying flat on the ground, with eyes set in a spiral and his Dragoon lying upside down. They all tried to get him on his feet, but he was out cold and they can't wake him up.

"Looks like we have to lug him all the way to his house" sighed Kyoju.

"Goliath got topped down by the same divine force," Max said wistfully as he and everyone else tried to lift the unconscious fellow, but all had a hard time doing so.

"Man, by Goliath, we mean it! NGH! I know that Burger King promo will do this to him.

"Er, Kyoju," said Ronnie, "hate to sound uncaring, but.."

"We all have to go! See ya!" and their opponents hurriedly ran out of the area.

"Oh great, just great." muttered Kyoju. "Just when you need help. Now HOW are we supposed to carry Takao without help?"

"I will."

The gang looked back and saw a familiar sight of Chinese clothing, razzled jet-black hair and amber eyes.

"REI!"

"What are you doing here?" asked Kyoju, "aren't you supposed to be..."

"Back in China? I should be," approaching them, Rei handed out some envelopes to Max and Kyoju as he continued, and "until I got this really strange letter addressed to me. Judging from the letterhead and the envelope, I think it's from a military outfit or something."

"Now that's strange," said Max, as he looked at the envelope. He was startled when he saw what's on the envelope. "Hey, this one's addressed to me!"

"And this one's to me!" said Kyoju as he stared at his. "And this one's for Takao! Now what do these people want from us!"

Rei shrugged his shoulders. "That's what I asked Mr. Daitenji. I thought that somehow, he knows what's going on, but when I went to his office, he just said that I must follow whatever the letter says and give this to you."

"The Chairman never runs out of surprises eh?" Max remarked. "Wonder what he has in store for us."

"Whatever it is," said Kyoju, "I don't have a good feeling about it. And I think it will be better if we first lug Takao back to his house."

"Affirmative," said Rei, as he proceeded to carry the unconscious blue-haired fellow on his back. Watching him rather amusedly, Hiromi said that he looks like that he's pretty used to carrying someone like so. Replying that he always carries a lot of kids that way back in his village, Rei started asking what's with Takao, noticing the under-the-weather look on his face.

"He's been like this in the past days," said Kyoju. "It's nothing really. He's just shortchanged on sleep or something."

"I don't think so," said Max, as he stared at Rei's unconscious burden.

"And why so?"

"Don't you guys notice? He seems to have his mind flying off elsewhere. It's as if there's something that's troubling him...specially a while ago. It's as if he saw something that really freaked him out."

"Do you suppose," said Hiromi, "that those letters have something to do with this?"

Nobody answered.

Back at the Kinomiya dojo, the gang all recounted to Takao's grandfather everything that has happened these past days, along with the strange letters addressed to them. The elderly Kinomiya promptly sent off his grandson to the hot bath to somehow shake himself off. "And it's high time that he did." said Max, "he's starting to stink!"

"I think I wanna be next, "said Rei, as he sniffed his clothes.

"That grandson of mine never learns eh?" Mr. Kinomiya harrumphed. "Still ain't watching his step."

"I don't think it's his fault sir," said Hiromi. "Whatever's bugging him must be the one that makes him slip off his tracks. And these letters…what's with the Chairman anyway? Why doesn't he at least say what is this that he's giving us?"

"I don't think you need to worry," the old salt assured them. "We all know the Chairman as someone you can really trust. Whatever he's up to, we can be sure that it's something very important."

"I hope you're right," said Kyoju.

"I don't think so."

At the sound of another familiar voice, the gang spotted on the dojo's doorway, another familiar figure of an athletic frame and the arrogant stance they all know too well.

"KAI!"

"And what are you doing here?" asked Kyoju. "Aren't you supposed to be in your boarding school or something?"

Flashing another one of the strange envelopes in front of them was all Kai needed to do to tell them why. Sure enough, the whole gang was startled with what they saw.

"What! Even you got one!"

"Now this is too much," said Kyoju. "What do these people want from us?"

"That's what I want to find out," said Kai, as he approached the front corridor where the gang is gathered. "I was about to go to the place indicated in this letter, but I've also thought of dropping by this place to see if you've also got one."

"Now that's something," said Max, "and all this happening just before the tournament? It would be easy to say that all of these have to do with that but..oh what's the use! Wracking my brains on that one ain't my job!"

"And what do you mean by that!" said Kyoju, "that it's my job?"

"You've put your own judgement into your mouth," said a laconic Kai.

"WHAT! I don't believe this. You're all ganging up on me for no reason at all!"

"STOP IT!" screamed Hiromi, as she stomped on the dojo's elevated wooden corridor. "Can't you guys stay put for a sec! Don't you realize that your arguments aren't going anywhere!"

"And what do you think we're supposed to do?"

Raising one of the envelopes, Hiromi said, "Read these."

"Of course!" yelled Max. "Why didn't I think of that!"

(Group sweatdrop)

They all hurriedly(with the obvious exception of Kai, who calmly opened his envelope), opened their envelopes and scan through the contents' well-printed material. After reading their own letters, they peered into each other's letters and were surprised when they noticed that the bodies of the letters are all the same. It read as follows:

We have received word from the Beyblade Battle Association(BBA) that you may be what our institution has been looking for. I am aware that this comes as an unsolicited message, but the accompanying seal stamped on this letter can assure you that this is a legitimate message accountable to us.

You had been chosen for a great and urgent mission that our institution has been founded for. If you are interested, you may proceed to Teito Broadcasting Studios, whose location is stated in the returning address of this letter. If you think that this mission is a mere waste of time, you may choose to ignore this message. But we strongly suggest that you give us the honor of your service. The stakes might be higher than anyone might expect.

We are hoping that you could give your answer as soon as possible.

Respectfully yours,

Yun Asakawa, GNTCJ

Armed Forces General and Head of Neo-Imperial Capital Defense

Rei whistled. "Man, sounds big-time. Almost too good to be true."

All were about to agree when Kyoju noticed something. "Guys, it IS true!"

"What do you mean?"

Pointing to the dry seal embossed on the letter, the bespectacled beanpole said, "Take a look at this. It's genuine!"

"How did you know?" asked Hiromi.

"One of my special projects in school involves identifying important government seals and distinguishing the fake from the real thing. Take a look at the watermark on this paper and on the dry seal. That scribble...it's virtually impossible for anyone to copy!"

"So that means that it's really from a big shot?" asked Max.

Yes, and I'm afraid that complicates things even more. Just think: if it's a fake, we can just act as if these letters don't exist. But here it is, all genuine, which means that we really are into something..." Kyoju's voice trailed off when he saw Kai walk into the dojo's doorway. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Your little talk seems to be getting nowhere."

"Aren't you at least worried about what's in store for us?"

"I couldn't care less about what those big-shots are up to. But I might as well make myself useful. By the way," he turned to Takao's grandfather, "where's the bathroom?"

"Er...walk straight ahead in the left corridor and then, turn right. The bathrooms right at the end of that hallway."

"Oh" he proceeded to where he was told.

"Wait Kai!" You can't come in just yet..." cried Kyoju.

But he was gone.

"...Takao's still in there."

Staring at the ceiling at the ceiling in a daze, Takao tried to piece everything together. Those weird visions. Those frightening dreams. No matter how he looked at it, it all doesn't make sense. "What's bugging me is that...I can't get it off my head!"

Yes. It was everywhere. In his dreams. In the cherry tree. In the sky. In the surrounding city. In people's faces. Even in the toilet (er...). These visions are getting more and more frequent with each passing day. And by each appearance of the vision, Dragoon's glow gets brighter. "Is he sensing something that I don't?"

As he got out of the tub, dried himself and dressed up, his thoughts drifted to the mysterious glow that surrounds his Bit Beast every time the visions come to him. "I've got a feeling that the coming days won't be the same as now."

He was cut short when he noticed that there was something wrong with his reflection in the mirror. Looking into it, he was startled when he saw what he was wearing, not a shirt and shorts, but...a costume.

A weird military costume.

Not aware that it's another vision, he was taken in by shock, a shock so great that he hasn't taken notice of Kai's arrival. The latter wasn't short of puzzled by the expression on the former's face and he said, "You practicing for another Mr. Stupid contest?"

Takao, in his shocked state, heard what Kai said as "Drop and give me 150!" With no further ado the blue-haired fellow fell down and with a hurried "sir, yes, sir!" did the push ups.

Flabbergasted, Kai stared blankly at the "demerited" goofball and as the other entered the bathroom, Kai said to the elder Kinomiya, "You better watch your grandson. He might be loading up on crack or something."

The others couldn't agree even more as they stared helplessly at the blue-haired-fellow giving the one hundred fifty.

But the next thirty days was shorn of the gang's silliness as most of their attention has been balanced between passing the final exam, and of course, practicing for the upcoming National Beybattle Tournament. So enthusiastic was the majority of Takao's school in supporting him...yes, even the grouchy Shirakawa-sensei seems to be cutting him some slack that he had almost forgotten the strange letters and the visions. Not only him, but the whole gang...well, almost all of them.

And so did they bury their heads into their respective schedules, not knowing what lies ahead of them…

Tension and excitement fills the air as the grand coliseum opened the ceremony for the semi-finals. Once again, the event began with the thunderous intro by no less then the lively announcer, DJ Jazzman:

"HELLO, EVERYBODYYYYYYYYY! Welcome to the exciting semi finals of this year's National Beyblade Tournament! As always, we bear witness to the great skills of today's contestants. The usual suspects had made it to the top of the line, but we also have new faces that are instant shoo-ins as well! Ladies and gentlemen, are we ready to see some real action?" As the audience shouted an approval, the DJ shouted, "ALL RIGHT! LET'S BRING IT ON!"

In this corner, the kid who had a mouthful in all senses of the word! Be it in the World Tournaments or in the eat-all you-can, this chap is one big winner, being the World Champion for three years in a row! The one, the only TAKAO KINOMIYA!"

Peppered with crossmarks, Takao strode to the ringside as he yelled "All right all right! You don't have to BROADCAST it twice!"

"Sheesh. You're too much of a celebrity for THAT to be a secret" muttered Kyoju.

"Well, at least he's full of energy for later…" said Hiromi.

"And in that corner," the DJ continued, as he motioned to the other corner of the ring, "a surprise entry at the preems… a self-proclaimed Beyblade genius."

"GENIUS!" (Takao facefaults)

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome, HIROYA SAKUMA!"

Everybody did a deadpan stare as they saw the aforementioned walked, or rather strutted, to the ringside. Self-proclaimed he is, as his stance shows it to be, it seemed that finally, someone had matched Takao's wind (er..) in the show-off department.

"So, you're the CHAMPION, huh?"

"Yeah? What's it to you?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that this Beybattle's just a waste of this genius' brains."

"Genius! Who are you calling a genius!"

"Oh no," muttered Kyoju, "looks like two ballooned egos had finally met at the dish."

I've got a feeling that something's gonna happen" sighed Hiromi.

Meanwhile, a few of the gang's schoolmates were loitering with Max in the arena's hallways. Asked why he did not join the tournament, Max explained that he wanted to take a break from the blitz and fury of the tournament for the meantime.

"And there's one more thing that bugs me. Why did you come back here? I mean, you already had a good life in the States..."

"Well, it's just that I don't wanna waste my scholarship in the Academy. Besides, Mom and Dad will need me in the long run. And by the way," Max pointed at a nearby cherry tree at a window, "do they have that in the States?"

(Points at a nearby sushi bar) "Do they have that there?"

(Points at a ramen stand) "Do they have that there?"

(Brings out something from backpack) "And do they have this there?"

All stared and looked nauseated when they saw that it was a wasabi pizza.

"You know Max, that's more of a reason for you to return to the States."  
"Oh c'mon, this tastes great!" (munch)

All facefaulted as one said,

"You're weird, Max."

(AN to Filipinos: this is my recreation of the popular "Walang ganyan sa States" commercial in case you're wondering.)

Suddenly, a familiar clashing sound interrupted their silly moments and realized that they had no time to waste since the Beybattle has already begun. Everybody in that part of the hallway started to run towards the entrance gates. Max was about to follow suit when he heard his name called by someone down the hallway. Turning back, he saw that it was Rei.

"Yo Rei! You came to watch Takao's match? Hey that rhymes..."

"Save your jokes later Max. I have something important to tell you."

"What's the matter? You look so serious."

"You do remember this right?" Rei said as he handed Max a piece of paper.

"Hey! Isn't this the strange letter that we all got a month ago? What about it?"

"Whoever sent us these may have the answer to what's going on these past days."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the earthquake that happened when I met up with you guys? There's something very odd about it. Usually, the tectonic plates go up, down, or sideways because of the forces from inside the earth. But the force of this earthquake seems to be coming from above the earth, as if a great force has stricken it. And that's not all. As soon as I felt this tremor, I felt a faint but distinct wave of some eerie force from the direction of the tremor's apparent source. Not only was it eerie, but..."

"But what?" asked Max, who was getting a bit worried.

With a surprising look of uncertainty in his amber eyes, Rei said, slowly but clearly, "It was frightening."

"And that's the reason why we came here." said another voice down the hallway. Startled, Max turned and was even more surprised when he saw that it was Kai, who was wearing a ninja's outfit, complete with his trademark scarf.

"Whoa! Where in the world did you dig that getup?"

"I'll explain that later. Anyway, that was not the first time that I and Rei had felt this kind of tremors. Since we were both in mountainous locations that are prone to earthquakes, we had felt those and we really got suspicious when we received these summons."

"But wait," said Max, "one thing that really bugs me is, why us?"

Holding up Dranzer, Kai said, "It's because of these. They believe that since we can control beings such as the Holy Beasts that we, somehow, could be useful to their plans."

"But that's all a theory now" said Rei, "until we have gathered enough proof and of course, if we directly answer to these summons. What's certain now is that we have to watch our backs. Somehow, I have a terrible feeling about all of this."

"Whatever that is," said Max, "we gotta tell the others! They must know this..."

But they have no time to think as a powerful presence made itself felt through deep, powerful rumblings. With surprise, shock and fear in their eyes, the three all gazed at the part of the wall that was slowly cracking from the impact….

The wall exploded, and…


	2. Teigeki's first strike!

"Oh wow! Hiroya's out! Looks like the world champion still takes the cake in this round!"

"All right!" said Takao, as the audience cheered in unison.

"Yo genius! Looks like your brain ran short today huh? Although I hadda admit that you almost got me there. But too bad I just saw through you."

Obviously shaken, but abruptly setting up a rather poorly made front of bravado, Hiroya said, "You better watch out next time! I just let you win that round."

"Oh yeah? Then why's your face lookin' so lopsided back there?"

"Why you..."

"There he goes making his opponent mad again.."sighed Kyoju.

"They're all the same," muttered Hiromi.

The DJ was so flabbergasted with the whole scene that he was struck dumb for a few seconds before he finally said, "Oh...I guess we had strong personalities in this tournament so far. All right, let's get down to business. Position!"

"3...2...1..."

"GO..."

(SFX: KRAGWSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!)

Everyone in the arena was caught unawares when a section of the wall was torn down. They were thrown into panic even more as the other parts of the wall were torn down and ominous, looming figures went inside the arena.

The events were fast. Everybody ran in all directions, desperately trying to find a way out. The unlucky ones were caught in the path of the ominous figures. Takao, in all complete shock and disbelief, could only stand still and bear witness to the whole carnage that is unfolding right before his eyes...as the towering figures revealed themselves from the smoke of the debris.

Monsters.

Horrible-looking, hulking monsters with huge air vents for heads, and they are heading towards the center of the arena.

"TAKAO!" cried Kyoju, as he and Hiromi ran to Takao. "We have to get out of here!"

"Hurry!" Seconded Hiromi. "What are you waiting for! Hey, don't just stand there! Let's go!"

"Hey, what's the matter with you!" said Hiroya, who shook Takao. "Why are you staring off in space like that!"

"They...they..." Takao said slowly.

"What! What are you saying!"

"Those monsters...the destruction...it's all like this in my dream! It's just like this!" All were startled when they saw the great fear in Takao's eyes.

"Wait," said Hiromi, "Could ...could this be what's been with you..."

"GANGWAY!"

Loud clanging sounds met thyeir ears as they saw figures zoom into the action and knocked a few of the monsters down. Looking up they were even more astonished when they saw who they were.

"Guys! Are you all right!" shouted Max, who was holding a metal rod from the debris. A monster charged at him from behind and he promptly stabbed it in the side, and with a couple of whacks set it falling down the ground with a howl.

"Whoa!" cried Takao, as he was snapped out of his daze. "From where did you learn THAT?"

"Let's just say that I had learned tricks of my own. As for them, how they got to do that is beyond me," and Max motioned to a part of the upper box. They looked up and saw Rei beating up some of the monsters with successive punches and kicks, and Kai throwing an array of shuriken at the others.

"Man," groaned Takao, "is this a Beybattle or a Fight Night?"

"Save your words for later, "said Hiromi, "We have to find a way to get out!"

And she was right, since more and more of the monsters are coming in. Obviously outnumbered, but stubbornly holding ground, the others kept on fighting them of. Even if Takao had picked up a piece of metal rod from the debris and joined the three in their monster bashing, it only got worse when suddenly, all of the monsters started moving towards the four of them.

"Wh-what's going on! These guys seem to be going after them!" said Hiroya. "What's all of this about!"

"I...don't...know!" said Takao as he fended of the creatures with all his might. "..but one..things for sure(MPH!) they might be..too much to handle!"

"They seem to be..endless!" seconded Max, "and what's worse(UMPH!) they seem to be..(UMPH) after us!"

"But why!"

A glimmer from somewhere attracted everyone's attention. Turning, they were astonished when they saw the four's Beyblades glowing in their pockets. "Could it be."

Kyoju ran to the front of the ringside box and said, "Guys! It's your Holy Beasts that attracts these monsters!"

"Why didn't you say sooner!" cried Takao. Yes, indeed it was too late as all of the monsters had gathered around the four. With nowhere to run, all of them could only stare in shock as the monsters lunged at them for the final attack...

Suddenly, a succession of rapid firing and clashing of metal met their ears.

As the smoke cleared, all looked up and again were astonished when they saw a number of the horrid creatures drop dead, and when they saw who did it, they were astonished even more...

Huge steel robots.

Steel robots who, with amazing speed and power, fought off the monsters with all of their might.

"What's going on?" said Rei.

"Looks like we're in some mecha flick or something," said Kai.

"But they don't look like Gundams to me," said Max, "they're too..bulky!"

Seeing that the coast is clear, the others ran to the four and asked if they're all right. They all ran towards a blind spot of the arena's undamaged area and watched the spectacle of clashing metal and explosives flying all over.

"It's all like this..." said Takao.

"What do you mean?"

"It's all like this in my dream..in my dreams guys! Those monsters, those robots! I can't believe it! It's all happening."

"So I was right," said Hiromi. "This IS what's bothering you!"

They have no time to ponder as one of the robots approached them. Startled, they all watched rather frightenedly at the green mech, as it landed in front of them and opened its top door..

"What are you kids doing here!"

The gang was astonished when they saw that the robot's pilot was a bespectacled girl with braids. "This is a very dangerous place! Go away before you get hurt!"

"Howdy!" said Max, "she's got freckles just like me!"

"Quit that Max!" said Hiromi. "And we should be asking you that, lady. What are you doing in THAT stupid looking can of sardines!"

":This is not stupid looking and this is not a can of sardines! This is Kobu!"

"What?" said Takao, staring blankly, "Cobra?"

"Not cobra! KOBU!"

As if not hearing what the girl said, Takao pointed to the black robot and said, "If that is a cobra, then that one is a viper."

Max pointed to the yellow robot and said "And there's an anaconda."

Hiroya pointed to the violet robot and said, "And there's a boa constrictor."

"GRRRRRRR! This is not a cobra! KOBU! KOBU!"

"All right we heard you, it's a cobra."

"You obnoxious kids!" and with that, the girl went back in her cobra...er, Kobu, and joined the others in battle, but not before saying, "All the same, you kids should get out of this place. We don't want to have casualties around here."

"If only she knew what YOU guys did to survive," muttered Hiroya. Turning to the others, he said, "Which brings me. Who really are you? I mean, how did you do what you did a while ago?"

"Sheesh. You're a Blader and you don't know who we are? Some genius you are," said Takao.

"WHAT?"

"This is no time to do that guys!" said Kyoju. "Hiroya, we are the former BBA team before the BBA Revolution went up. How the others did what they did...er, you explain that, guys."

"Training since childhood," said Rei. "Remember that I'm still one of the Bai Hu Zu's frontline warriors."

"Beyblading's not the only thing that I'm into," said Max. "I had to learn some self defense skills."

"Let's just say that this is my second priority next to Beyblading," added Kai.

"And Takao here has been into kendo for a long time..." But when Takao gave him a puzzled look, Kyoju said, "Although reluctantly."

(SGX: KTANG! GRSSSHHHHH!)

They were all startled when a big object hit a part of the wall beside them. Looking, they saw that it was one of the fighting Kobu, who took a really bad beating from the monsters' blow.

"Omigosh!" said Hiromi. "Don't those things have a driver? The driver might be injured or something! Let's take a look!"

"No Hiromi!" said Kyoju. "That might..."

As Kyoju said, the Kobu suddenly released a blanket of steam around it. Frozen in astonishment, they all watched anxiously as its frontal part dropped open and its pilot slowly alighting from it. They were even more surprised when they saw that it was another young lady.

"Just great. My Kobu is down again!"" She brushed aside her shoulder-length, violet hair as she reached for the mouthpiece of her headset communicator, "Kohran, how many times do I have to tell you to fix my Kobu properly! What? What do you mean that you cant do anything about it!...Yes, Captain? What? WHAT? Are you telling me to babysit these children! I will NEVER do that in the middle of a battle! ...Wait! Captain? CAPTAIN!"

Obviously irritated, she got off the Kobu and faced the huddled group of youngsters and said, "If not for the Captain's orders, I'll not even do this. Why didn't you evacuate when you had a chance!"

"Don't blame us, lady!" said Hiromi, who was apparently miffed by the older woman's haughty attitude. "How could you expect us to evacuate when we're being attacked from all sides? The best we can do is fight back!"

"Fight back! How can anyone expect children like you to even do anything against something as powerful as the Wakiji! You should have left matters like this to the proper authority like ourselves!"

"We're not just kids, and what gives you the right to call yourself authority!"

Hiromi and the woman were deep into arguing that they didn't notice that the boys had gone into the violet Kobu's interior and poked around in curiosity.

"Amazing!" cried Kyoju. " These controls are state- of-the-art equipment! They're much more advanced than what we see at the PPB research center!"

"Mom will surely get a kick out of seeing this!" said Max.

"And this engine!" Pointing to the back part of the cockpit, Kyoju motioned to the array of gray panels arranged just below the backrest of the pilot's seat. "This doesn't look like an ordinary engine. In fact, it does not look like ANY that I had seen so far! Whatever it is, one thing's for sure: this thing is a robot scientist's dream come true!"

"Wicked," said Takao, as he ran his hands across the control panel. "I don't understand anything about technical stuff, but this thing IS cool!"

"H-hey guys..." said Rei, who was right below the Kobu's opening. "I really do think that playing with that thing isn't exactly a good idea. Guys? Guys!"

"Let them be, Rei," Kai said indifferently as he leaned back against a railing. "They won't listen to us anyway. The best thing we could do is to bail them out when they get their butts into a sticky situation."

"But..."

Meanwhile , the rest of the Kobu were busy fending of the whole armada of the raging monsters with all their might. The white Kobu, taking the center line apparently contained the said Captain of the team and she started voicing out her orders.

"With one of us down, the Formation can no longer work. The best thing we can do is keep our eyes and ears peeled out for the 'leader'!"

"But where is the leader?" asked the pilot in the red Kobu, who wasbusy punching and kicking a part of the monster's batch. "It's kinda like finding a needle in a haystack with all of these critters!"

"Easy," said the braided girl from before in the green Kobu. "Find the one with the elevated level of dark energy. That's the leader."

"But we can never be sure about that." said the pilot in the black Kobu. "Usually, the leader hides his aura to avoid detection...eh?"

The group stopped when they saw the yellow Kobu stalled at the part of the wall.

"What's the matter?"

"It's...it's coming!" said the yellow Kobu's pilot. True enough, that part of the wall started to crumble.

"Watch out!" cried the pilot in the pink Kobu as she pushed her Kobu aside, who was apparently rendered motionless with fright. And so were the rest of them when they saw who they were looking for: a being that was similar to the rest of the monsters they were fighting, but thrice the size, and much more frightening, so frightening that Hiromi and the older woman promptly stopped arguing.

"That's it..."

"It's huge!"

"Captain, what shall we do?"

It took a moment before the Captain managed to say, "Everyone, get into Formation position!"

"But Captain!"

"Sumire's Kobu is down for the count! How can we possibly utilize the Formation's full force!"

"We must risk it. We have no other.."But before the Captain could finish her sentence, the huge monster had gathered a huge energy ball and hurled it at the tean. Everything went in a flash. The yellow Kobu had set up a barrier, but it was soon overpowered by the energy ball and was blown to the ground. The rest of the team charged at the monster: the red Kobu lashing out its fists, the pink Kobu with its katana, the white Kobu with its spear, as the black and green Kobu, with their huge cannons fired at it with all its might. But all of their weapons were useless, and soon enough, all of them were thrown to the ground.

All of the robots tried to stand up despite their injuries, but the creature has its own plans and grabbed the white Kobu.

"CAPTAIN!" everyone cried.

The captain, visibly injured but still determined, grit her teeth and struggled to move, but to no avail.

This is not...how our lives...should end!

Meanwhile, the boys were still busy poking around the violet Kobu's interior.

"I'LL GIVE ANYTHING JUST TO GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" cried Kyoju, as he hugged the cockpit's computer controls and rubbed his cheeks against its panels. Max and Hiroya can't do anything else but to restrain him and tell him not to rub his cheeks too hard, lest he accidentally pushes something. But even as they were doing so, they didn't notice that Takao was already in the pilot's seat, ogling the controls.

"I wonder what this does," he said, as he pushed a lever.

The boys in the cockpit were caught unawares when the Kobu's engines were suddenly activated and soon, the Kobu closed up.

"GUYS!" cried Rei and Hiromi, who were outside the Kobu and had started banging on its wall in an attempt to free the ones trapped in it. "GUYS! Speak up! Are you all right!"

With a scream, the violet-haired lady pushed them aside and cried, "Don't ruin my Kobu!"

"But our friends are stuck in there!" cried Hiromi.

"Miss, please!" cried Rei, "How do we get them out!"

"How should I know? I can control it from the inside, not from the outside!"

In the Kobu's cockpit, the boys were visibly freaked out.

"Takao! What have you done!" screamed Kyoju.

"AGH! I don't wanna die stuck in a can of sardines!" said Hiroya.

"Do something!" said Max, as he joined the others in rummaging through the Kobu's interior in search of a way out.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" said Takao, as he hurriedly pushed on all the levers at random.

"TAKAO, NO!" screamed Kyoju in his highest pitch. "WE MIGHT"

And sure enough, the Kobu's limbs and body started to move, startling both those on the inside and on the outside. More random pressing at the control buttons and levers sent the Kobu into a frenzy, as in an epileptic seizure. The ones outside couldn't do anything else but scream the names of those trapped in the robot.

Just like I told them, Kai thought in his usual condescending manner, And as usual, they didn't listen. And I'd rather not bail them out this time.. but his sangfroid was rudely cut short when the "epileptic" Kobu's naginata hit the railing, just a few millimeters short of slicing him in half. (AN: Position unchanged as usual, but all facial features are gone and two white orbs replace the eyes) As if matters hadn't been bad enough yet, the Kobu, after a few more spasms, did an "arabesque"...

Raised the naginata parallel to its feet in the other direction...

And spun...spun...spun...spun...

The onlookers could only stare in disbelief as the violet Kobu spun like, yes, a Beyblade, and it rushed headlong into the battlefield. Bouncing against a part of the wall as a take-off point, and with the naginata serving as the attack ring, the Kobu-turned-Beyblade bounced against each enemy monster and slicing each of them in the process, sending of successions of loud explosions.

"GANGWAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY" cried the boys who were trapped inside the Kobu. The centrifugal force from the spin squashed their faces against each other, rendering them spiral-eyed and immobilized as the Kobu rushed towards the monsters' leader. The "improvised Beyblade''s rush was at such speed that the leader had no time to recoil, much less retaliate. Needless to say, the target was shred off to pieces with a loud bang, but not before its captive, the white Kobu, was freed from its grip.

The wake of the monsters' defeat was marked by silence as the witnesses saw the Kobu slow down..stop at a part of the open field...and one by one, its parts fell to the ground...

Until it was completely dismantled.

The violet-haired lady's scream pierced the silence of the arena...


	3. Freaky Coincidences

The rest of the Bladers ran towards the wreckage, screaming the names of those trapped in the now dismantled Kobu. They were even more surprised when they saw the trapped ones were miraculously unhurt, save from the fact that they were rendered spiral-eyed and motionless from what happened moments ago.

"You guys certainly have devil's luck," sighed Rei, as he and the rest helped them get on their feet.

"Uh," said Kyoju, pointing to their backs, "speaking of the devil..."

The group was rendered silent when they saw the Kobus open up, releasing a blanket of steam. When the mist cleared, the pilots, who were getting of their respective mechs, were revealed and were approaching the group. The youngsters were astonished when they saw that the pilots were all young women.

"What you did is very dangerous," said the tall woman with dark green hair, which was tied back in a bun. Apparently, she's the team captain and the oldest in the group. "You have seen that you had not only put your lives in jeopardy, but our lives as well, with your thoughtless actions..."

"It's useless explaining that to them, Captain!"

Everybody looked in the direction of that voice and saw that it was the violet haired woman from before, and was rejoining her team's ranks.

"Oh, Sumire. I'm glad you're not hurt..." said the Captain.

"That's not the issue!" Sumirefor that was the violet-haired woman's nameinterrupted. "It's these insolent urchins. First, they didn't obey our instructions of leaving this place; second, they tinkered my Kobu without my permission; third, the did an unauthorized use of it; fourth, they interrupted our battle; and last but not the least, they ruined my Kobu! I strongly suggest that we give them the strongest punishment for those reckless actions...starting with you!"

"W-w-who...m-m-meeeeeee?" stammered Takao, whose head was still spinning from the previous events.

"Yes, and not only you, but those of you involved in ruining my Kobu!"

"Waiiiiiiiiit.." Said Takao, "before you...do...anything..."

"Give us a moment."

He, Kyoju, Max and Hiroya all went to the back part of the railings...and in perfect synchronization...barfed.

When the boys regained their bearings, they all faced this strange group. When the woman named Sumire insisted that the boys should get punished, the tall, blond woman named Maria reminded her that they are the military and therefore, have no right to punish civilians.

"Then let's bring them to the nearest police station and lock them up there!"

"Oi, oi, Sumire" another tall, redhead woman, whose name was Kanna, interrupted. "We're talking about minors here. The best thing they'll get is a thorough scolding, and remember, we're the ones who'll get in trouble if we go out in the open. We still have our secret identity to take care of, in case you forgot."

Sumire was seething with anger and said, "But we just can't let these imps go scot-free!"

"She's right," said Kohran, the braided, bespectacled girl from before. "These kids don't have any bit of respect for the Kobu. They called this great machine names, and worse, they thoughtlessly tore one of them down!"

"Hey wait a minute!" cried Takao, who couldn't maintain his silence anymore. "It's not as if we had turned that thing into a joyride gone wrong on purpose!"

"On purpose or not, you should have heeded our advice and left while you can!"

"Wait! Please don't fight, minna-san!"

"Sakura!"

The blue-haired girl named Sakura earnestly said, "Please don't fight. Kohran-san, Sumire-san, please remember that this is what happened when I first joined the former Teikoku Kagekidan. It's not these boys' fault that this happened..."

"Sakura-san, yours is a completely different case." Sumire curtly interrupted. "You're OUTSIDE the Kobu when it reacted to you. These kids purposely went INSIDE!"

The boys looked at each other helplessly and gave out a "what's going on?" look on their faces.

"Wait a minute!" the bespectacled Kohran said. "Come to think of it, Sakura-han seems to be on something. We seem to be forgetting one very important thing!"

"And what is that?"

"Spiritual power! Those who have none cannot make the Kobu move, much less do this to them,' motioning to the wreckage, she continued, "It only means one thing: these kids are anything but ordinary. They seem to have a considerable amount of spiritual power somehow."

"That's just ridiculous! How can..." Sumire angrily said, but the captain interrupted her and said, "Now that's a thought." Turning to the group of youngsters, she said, "Please tell me who you are and what you're doing here."

And they did.

The captain mulled over what the boys told her and said, "Interesting."

"But I wonder what that Bey-thingy had to do with the Kobu," said Kohran.

"Well don't ask us!" said Hiromi. "As you can see, we're merely civilians who were caught in the crossfire!"

"It may be good that you had realized it but it's too late! The damage has already been done and you have to pay for it!" insisted the violet-haired Sumire.

"Hold it!" said Hiromi. "Whose robot was the one who first got damaged in the first place?"

"What did you say, you insolent girl!"

"Why, wanna fight!" The two girls were poised to pounce at each other, with their respective parties restraining them, when the captain said, "That's enough!"

The groups were silenced as she continued, "There's a lot that happened today, and at the same time, there are unanswerable questions that appeared today. That being said, Team Hana couldn't do so much now, and we must all return to the base. Like what Maria and Kanna had said, it's not up to us to deal with civilians."

"But Captain..."

"Had I made myself clear, Sumire?"

The aforementioned reluctantly held her silence as the Captain turned to the boys, "As I had said, what you did is very dangerous. But on the other hand,...I guess what you did is what can be called as a blessing in disguise. If we look at it in another way, if it wasn't for your intervention, I wouldn't be here talking to you right now. So in a sense, I owe my life to you boys, and I thank you for that."

"Aw, shucks, it was nothing," said Takao.

"But..."said the Captain, "please don't do it again."

The boys stared bug-eyed at her as they said,

"All right."

A rumbling sound startled and momentarily frightened the group of Bladers as they saw that it was a huge vehicle entering the wrecked arena. But seeing the vehicle open up, bring out huge cranes and took in all of the Kobu, including the dismantled one, it dawned on them that it was nothing more than an oversized service conveyor, and it was affirmed when the pilots and the captain started to board the said vehicle. The group was relieved, but Takao said, "Yo, wait!"

The captain looked back and said, "What else do you want?"

"You couldn't just leave without at least telling us who you are and what your group is?"

"Lily Beckett, Field Marshal and Captain of Team Hana, main division of Neo-Imperial Capital Defense Force. Like always said, don't tell anyone what you just saw," she turned back and started to climb towards the conveyor's entrance as she continued, "but it's pretty useless saying that, since those reporters always manage to dig something out of this. Well, you kids just stay out of trouble. Till then, if we ever meet again, that is."

The Blading group could only stare at the conveyor vehicle, as it promptly closed up, levitated to the wrecked ceiling and flew off.

"That...is...simply...weird" said Kyoju.

"Please slap me," said Hiroya. "Slap me and wake me up."

(SFX: BUGSH!)

"OW! I said slap, not punch!"

"Whatever," said Takao, "The outcome's the same. And you aren't dreaming, pal."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Everyone almost jumped out of their skins from Hiromi's scream.

"What the hell is going on with you, Hiromi!" yammered Takao.

"The letters!" Hiromi exclaimed. "We forgot to ask them about the letters!"

"Hey!" said Kyoju. "Now that you mentioned it, the lady said something about the Neo-Imperial Capital Defense Force! Where are the letters?"

"Right here," said Rei.

Kyoju looked at one, gasped and said, "They DO have something to do with this! Look! The sender is the head of the Imperial Capital Defense thingy!"

"Freaky," said Takao and Max.

"Yep," seconded Rei, "We ARE into something."

Hiroya looked at the letters and said, "What? You geezers also have that!"

"What do you mean?" asked Takao.

"Wait," said Hiromi, "You couldn't also have.."

As he whipped out an identical envelope, the gang was freaked out even more as he shouted, "Oh yes! Those big-shots aren't mistaken in choosing a genius like me for the job! WAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"This is no time to fool around, if you don't get what's happening."

Looking back, the gang saw that it was Kai, who hasn't been with the gang when all of the events happened.

"Where have you been?" asked Kyoju.

"Let's just say that I've been listening to everything that was said moments ago. And I had long guessed that these women had something to do with the letters, hearing the words "Neo-Imperial Capital Defense" from them."

"Oh yeah," said Takao who is as usual miffed by Kai's know-it-all stance. "Leave it to the great Kai to clarify things for his moronic team-mates. So what does our true genius make out of all this?"

"Save your insults for what is in store for us in the coming days." Kai retorted. "For all that I can make out, it seems that whoever made these letters is the same force behind those women. And whatever they're into, it's inevitable that we would get swept in as well. And it's all because of the fact that we own the Holy Beasts."

"Whoa," said Rei. "Come to think of it, those women aren't ordinary at all. I felt another kind of strange power from them..."

"Oh, let's get over it!" Hiromi said in exasperation. "We're just going around in circles. There's only one way we could find out the answers to our questions."

"And how's that?" Takao asked smugly.

"Haven't I told you may times! Answer the summons! Go to the place stated in the letter! I can't believe how dense you guys had become!"

"And who are you calling dense?"

"Would you please stop fighting?" cried Kyoju, as he pointed to the outside. "And we better get outta here. You don't want to be caught on TV in this kind of place!"

"TV!"

"Oh no...reporters!"

And the Blading group promptly ran out of the wrecked coliseum as helicopters and OB vans from different TV stations drove right into it.

* * *

Those boys are really strange," said Kohran, as she inspected the wrecked Kobu in the conveyor's hangar. "I can't believe that there could actually be males who could have that much spiritual power to do this to the Kobu!"

"I am not surprised," said Maria, who was also overlooking the same heap of steel. "Remember, this is more than eighty years beyond our time. For some reason, more males with strong spiritual energy are born into this period."

"And it baffles me even more." said Kohran, "If it is so, why do we, the original Hana Gumi, had to be frozen up for more than eighty years, given the fact that this kind of men will be born in this period? It's quite a waste of effort and hydrogen."

"Yes, and it's also a waste of our time and our very lives!"

"Sumire-han?"

"I don't like this period!" said Sumire, who also overlooked the heap of steal that was her Kobu. "The people here have absolutely no taste and style, no appreciation for the arts, and worst of all, no manners! Just like those obnoxious children! I really regret the day that I was stupid enough to consent to this body-freeze thing!

"Oi Sumire," said Kanna, who was standing behind her. "Stop being so obstinate. This IS our duty as Team Hana. And besides, those same obnoxious children that you say did save our butts if you think about it."

"She's right," said Sakura, as she and a little blond girl with a teddy bear walked into the hangar. "These children did save our lives, and we must be grateful to them"

"Sakura!" Sumire angrily harrumphed. "Stop saying such nonsense!"

"Sumimasen! Sakura said as she continued, "It's just that,...it's just that I have this strange feeling that we will see them again."

"WHAT!"

"Oh no," groaned Kohran, "Not them. They're the Kobu's bane!"

"I NEVER want to see those imps again." Sumire maintained.

"But we will." The little blond girl said.

"EH!" "What do you mean, Iris?"

"We will see them again. I'm sure we will." Iris, the little blond girl with the teddy bear, said quietly as she stared out of the conveyor-ship's window.

"Those boys are strange..."

"And I don't like them. You don't like them too, right, Jean-Paul?" said Iris, as she clutched her teddy bear closer.

* * *

Settling into the base, the conveyor and let out the Kobus for repairs, and Team Hana promptly retired to their headquarters, as the captain filed her report to the Major. 

"And that's my report, sir."

"Hmm...Beckett-kun, it seems that you haven't noticed anything."

"What do you mean, Major?" said Beckett, taken aback.

The Major laughed a little as he said, "Oh well. The only thing I can tell you is that this isn't the last time that you'll be seeing those boys."

"But Major..."

"You have concluded you report, right?"

"But..." sighing in exasperation, Beckett nonetheless saluted and said,

"Affirmative, Major Oogami."

Rather dejectedly, Beckett walked out of the room and into the hall, still mulling over the major's words. Is it possible that these boys are involved in the Major's plans?

Looking outside the window of his room, Major Oogami watched the falling of the petals from the nearby cherry blossom trees. Beckett-kun...it's amusing that she's so much like me eighty years back. But as her past reports say, even her determination isn't enough to keep the team together, much less effectively repel the enemy. And that's where good ol' Hayata comes in. And what a chap he is, having the eye to detect the right men for the job. Or the right KIDS, in this case.

He turned his gaze to the array of photos and bio-data on his study.

BBA Beybladers...I can't wait to see what these kids have got.


	4. A Decision Made Under the Stars

"Man, I think my head's gonna blow up."

The final exam has been a tense yet bustling day for every student on the planet, and of course, the students at Senkaishin Naval Academyare just an example. The tension is no less evident than our dear Takao, whose expression seems to show what his statement says.

"Why shouldn't you be? I told you to study harder." Said Kyoju.

"Gimme a break will you! All the stuff that happened last week not only gave me nightmares but also left me sleepless for days!"

"He does have a point though," said Hiromi, "It's really hard to believe that stuff straight out of those sci-fi TV shows could actually happen. Even I get the shivers when I try to remember what just happened."

"At least we all had a workout outside of Beyblading."

"MAX!"

"Just kidding." Then, the freckle-face's expression turned sober as he said, "But you know, all that sci-fi stuff ain't worth laughing at. If you think about it, we ARE leading a sci-fi life. Still, I myself can't believe that we're beckoned to a higher calling now."

"You mean the letters?" asked Hiromi.

"Speaking of which, have you decided when we should go to the place indicated in the letter?" asked Kyoju, who folded up his laptop that he was working on in the previous moments. "I'd suggest that we should go there as soon as possible."

"Awww, do we have to?" moaned Takao.

"What in the world are you saying?" Hiromi asked incredulously. "Aren't you at least worried what's in store for us?"

"Who cares about what those people want from us? Besides, the letter said that I can ignore the message if I want to..."

"BUT YOU CAN'T!" Hiromi yelled in exasperation. "Don't you remember how you guys almost got killed that day! That would happen again if you don't ask those people what's going on!"

"She has a point," said Max, "Besides, no matter how we look at it, it's only that Neo-Imperial Capital Defense thingie outfit that has the answers. That's why even Chairman Daitenji doesn't have a clue to what's going on."

"But if he doesn't know what's going on, why did he allow those guys to pitch us in?" asked Takao.

"With what happened last week, what I can say is that we had no choice. Either way, our lives will eventually be threatened." Said Kyoju, as he let his gaze trail off into the streets.

The gang was momentarily silenced by his statement and was thrown in deep thought, as they walked down the busy streets of the Tokyo metropolis. But as they approached the intersection on which the building with the colossal digital screen is located, they were suddenly snapped out of their reverie when they saw a huge crowd gathering around the screen's viewing area.

"What's going on?" asked Takao.

"Maybe another big star or something," said Max.

"Hey guys!" cried Hiromi, as her face bore an expression of surprise and some uptightness. "Look up there! It's her! The violet-haired banshee from last week!"

"Violet-haired? You don't mean..." The boys looked up and were equally surprised.

"Guys!" cried Kyoju, "It IS her!"

True enough, the violet-haired lady that they came across in the past week was shown on the digital screen. Only this time, she was dressed in a concert outfit and seemed to be giving a performance. The people shown in the studio, and those who were watching around the screen were obviously delighted with her presence.

"Is she some sort of pop star or something?" asked Max.

"I don't believe this!" said Hiromi, "Of all the people who could be a STAR, why her!"

"Now this is getting freakier," said Takao, "what is SHE doing there!"

"Hey Takao! Fancy seeing you here!"

Among the crowd, they saw some of their classmates, who were obviously watching the show. The two parties gathered and after exchanging formalities (or informalities, as one might put it), Takao asked them who the singer was.

"What! You don't know!"

"I'm not surprised, since you practically made a second limb out of your beyblade."

"Enough of newbie insulting will you?" muttered Takao, "Just tell me who she is."

"Okay, okay. She just happens to be one of the lates divas to hit the big and small screen, not to mention the theatre. Not only does she sing, she's also the greatest actress and dancer Japan has ever seen. The name's Sumire Kanzaki."

"Sumire...Kanzaki?" Takao repeated. "So that's her name."

"And not only her. The five other girls up there are also great actresses in their own right."

The gang looked up and was taken by another knock of surprise, as they saw the whole group of young women that they met last week, and were also giving a performance.

"I can't take this anymore!" cried Takao, "Who really ARE they!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. Hehehehehehe..." The blue- haired fellow's expression gave out a helpless look. This whole thing is getting freakier and freakier by the minute. All this stuff is making my head feel like miso soup...speaking of which, I'm hungry.

"I guess I better hit it then. I'm hungry."

"You always are." muttered Hiromi.

"Thanks for the info anyway. Bye," said Takao.

"Yeah, see you around," said Max.

As the four left the crowd, their classmates shouted one dominant phrase:

"Take care and get a life, Takao!"

Face faulting, he muttered, "What did they mean by that?"

* * *

Having said their goodbyes to each other, the four parted ways and headed for their respective homes. As he took a slow stroll on the pathway towards the dojo, Takao was once again in a meditative state. True, his classmates' words had iffed him up but at the same time, it got him into one thought that he never came across in his whole life: Did he have a life?

_Sure, I had a life. A life of escaping kendo practice, sleeping in class, standing in the corridor, going around the world, challenging here and there, defeating bad guys...yes, I had a life. A Beybladed life._

_My life IS Beyblade._

_Normally, I would even be proud of it, but now,...I don't think I'm sure I should be._

A gust of wind picked up all the leaves on the pavement and blew it all over the bare space that he was in. Weird. It's almost summer, but why is the wind so cold?

The wind grew stronger, so strong that he had to hold on to his sailor hat and keep the wide collar of his uniform from getting into his line of vision. _Or...is it me who's feeling cold?_

_What's happening to me? Why am I feeling this!_

As the wind subsided into a gentle breeze, the blue- haired fellow's thoughts drifted in slow yet deep torrents of confusion, just like the gentle flapping of his necktie and his longish hair in the wind.

_I don't know what's going on...but whatever it is, something in me tells me that I can't just ignore it._

_

* * *

_

Rather gloomily, Takao entered the dojo's huge gate. "Tadaima (I'm back)," he said weakly as he slipped off his shoes at the dojo's doorway.

"YOU"RE OPEN!" (SFX: TGSSSSSHHHHHH!)

Catching the shinai (kendo training sword) with his palms, Takao struggled to wrench it off his grandfather's assaulting grip. "What's your problem, gramps!"

"You're the one who has a problem! Becoming unmindful of your surroundings is gonna make you lose big-time, especially with what happened last week! Speaking of which, the Chairman's on the phone right now and I think he wants to talk about those weird things that happened..."

"The Chairman! All right, just the guy I need!" in a hurry to get to the phone, Takao wrestled his grandfather with the shinai still in his hands, with such surprising strength that the old-timer was thrown into the dojo's artificial pond with a great splash.

"Hello? Chairman Daitenji!"

"Takao-kun! I'm really, really sorry for what happened last week!"

"What are you saying sorry for? It's not like it's your fault or something."

"No, I must apologize, not only to you but to all of those who got involved in all of this. Not only because I haven't made everything clear from the start, but I might have gotten you kids into more than what I've bargained for!"

"More than what you've bargained for!" The uneasiness in the Chairman's voice brought back all of Takao's uneasiness from a while ago. More riveted than ever, he decided to ask that big question that he was searching an answer for.

"Please tell me everything you know about the Neo- Imperial Capital Defense."

"Listen carefully then, my boy. I will only say these once."

A quiet, yet heartfelt tension was in the air when the Chairman continued,

"Almost eighty years ago, at the time of Tokyo's steam-powered Industrial Revolution, an evil and powerful force known as the Descended Evil had invaded the city and threatened the well-being of everyone in it. Luckily for them some pioneers in the military had dared to create a radical solution: create robots driven by spiritual and steam power, and mostly young girls with high levels of spiritual power manned these. The demons were eventually defeated, but the International Council back then had decided to put the same girls in the experimental process of cryogenic suspension along with the robots, feeling that the demons will come back in the future and that those girls are the only ones that could defeat them."

"Yes, the demons did come back. The girls and the machines were revived, but all of them weren't prepared from the fact that the demons had grown more powerful from the tension, fear and hatred that arose from the different crises, wars and acts of terrorism that happened in this timeline!"

"That's why the Neo-Imperial Capital Defense had launched Project Kotetsu Hana, whose aim is to build new models of those robots and find new people to man them."

"And that's where we come in?" asked Takao.

"Yes, but those people never told me the whole story when the started knocking at the door of the BBA Headquarters. The military officers who first talked to me simply said that they were only requesting for possible volunteers in some passive field experiments. Since I'm familiar with the division quite well, I obliged and gave them the database of the BBA's best members. But never, ever in my wildest dreams did I expect that they will be using the BBA to gather the people that they will need for this project!"

"So what you're saying is, we had been recruited to a military outfit completely without us knowing it!"

"Worse than that: you'll be placed into one of the frontline divisions! You know what that means: your lives will be put on the line!"

"Chairman, how could you!" cried the blue-haired fellow. "How could've you been so stupid to trust those kinds of people!"

"I know, my boy, I know. That was the biggest mistake that I have done. The only time that I realized that was when you boys were attacked by those demons last week. As soon as I received the news, I confronted the same officers and they told me everything. Please don't be mistaken: they're not that bad. They had sent me their apologies to you and said that as much as they don't want to put your lives in danger, they had no choice. Those monsters are attracted to high levels of spiritual power, and you have the highest levels of spiritual energy, and you have the highest level of it, as last week's incident suggests. Either way, your lives will eventually be threatened."

It's just like what Kyoju said a while ago! Realizing that, and feeling the earnest sincerity in the Chairman's voice, Takao's anger and indignation was replaced by pity towards the Chairman. With all that he has said and done, it always is, and always will be, that the Chairman is only doing what he believes is the best for them.

"I'm sorry for calling you stupid, Chairman."

"You don't need to, my boy. It is, after all, my responsibility."

"You only did what you think is the best for us, right? And besides, it's only now that I have realized that those Defense Force big-shots might actually be protecting us by giving us the means to fight back."

"Thank you for being so understanding I hope the others would be the same when I break the news to them."

"They will. Hate to admit it, but they're the ones who think faster than I do."

"And oh...I forgot the most important thing."

"What is it?"

The Chairman did a thoughtful pause before he continued, "I did say that you WILL be placed in the Force, but you were not YET placed into it. That means, if you really don't want to join them, you can decline the offer, but can still have protection from them as a special civilian. Whatever your decision is, I really do hope that you would think of one very carefully."

"I will, Chairman."

After saying their goodbyes, Takao slowly puts down the receiver and heave a sigh. Only two weeks had gone by, but it felt more like a year with all of this big stuff happening all at once. He can only wait for what happens next in all uncertainty.

"YOU'RE OPEN AGAIN!" (SFX:TGSSSSSSSSHHHH!)

Well, almost.

"GRANDPA! Don't you ever give up!" The blue- haired fellow growled as he (again) caught his grandfather's shinai with his palms.

"Of course not! I'm not like you who easily shrinks from a few monsters!"

"Are you calling me a coward!"

"What else will I call those who shrink from their duties to their mommaland!"

"What duties!" but caught unawares, it was Takao's turn to be thrown into the artificial pond. The blue-haired fellow stood up in the pond with a carp flapping on his head.

"Bullseye! See what happens when you're uncertain? One wrong step and that's the end of you. Listen to me and listen good! Those military big-shots chose you coz they believe that you're the right man for the job! Aren't you even proud of it!"

"Wait a sec!" cried Takao, "How did you know what we've been talking about!"

"Silly goat! Have you forgotten that a big dojo like this needs extension phones!" and the old salt held up the receiver of one as he said this.

"Oh, I forgot..." once again, Takao fell into the pond with a big splash. When he regained his footing and stood in the pond, the same carp was now flapping halfway into his mouth.

"I told you to listen, young 'un. In times like this that humanity's in danger, saying no to a military summon is outta the question, even in life itself. Most things that you have to do are not of your choosing!"

Takao spat the carp and retorted, "Yeah right! Everything that's going on in my life is not of my choosing! Whose idea was it to put me in a naval school, even if I have no interest in going into the military! Not to mention that this dorky uniform is making me the laughing stock of the neighborhood." As he said this, he recalled how his neighborhood buddies ridiculed him when he first wore the said uniform, with jeers, taunts and derisive singing of "Popeye the Sailor Man".

"That's not what I'm talking about!" said his grandfather. "Dontcha see! You boys are the only ones around this country that can stop that demonic slime from last week! You can't just turn your eyes away from it, coz sooner or later, you'll end up seeing nothingness!"

At those words, the horrid visions that haunted Takao's dreams came back to him. The destruction. The carnage. Dragoon's foreboding glow. All of it told him one thing:

He must do something soon if he doesn't want those horrid visions to become reality.

* * *

That night, as he settled into his bed, he stared at the ceiling, thinking of everything that happened these past days. I guess I'm the only one who's stupid.

_Come to think of it, it IS stupid to say no in this kind of situation. But...but what about everyone else back here? I may be able to protect them, but they will need my personal presence in the long run._

It's really hard to decide if you know just how high the stakes are.

Glancing sideways, he saw his Dragoon on his bedside table.

"Dragoon, what do you think? What shall I do?"

As if on cue, he heard a loud wailing just beside the dojo. Looking at a window of the house that can be seen at his window, he saw that it was a baby crying, and the mother came in, picked it up from its crib and sang a lullaby.

Even if it's in the next house, Takao could clearly hear the mother's voice as the lullaby that she sung struck a part of his memory that was buried deep within his subconscious. Sitting up, he strained to recall from where did he hear that tune. Something on the shelf across his room caught his eye, and he stood up to take a look. It was a photograph of the Kinomiya family, when he was still three and his mother was still alive. It struck him: it was the same tune that his mother sang him to lull him to sleep.

Suddenly, it all became clear.

_There are more important things to take care of other than those I value._

Clutching Dragoon in his hand, he stared outside the bedroom and into the night sky, as a firm decision formed in him.


	5. Previewings

"Attention to all divisions. The Commander orders your presence at the Conference Room. I repeat! All divisions, the Commander orders your presence in the Conference Room."

Hearing the announcement on the telecom, all of the members of the Neo-Imperial Capital Defense heeded the call, swarming from the upper floors of the Teito Broadcasting Studios to the Conference Room, way down the massive lower levels.

"What is it now! Here we are taking a much needed rest, and we are called to another meeting!" grumbled the apparently disgruntled Sumire.

"Don't you have anything else to do other than complain?" muttered Kanna.

"All of the divisions have been called," said Maria, as the elevator that they were riding in stopped at their destination and opened up. "The meeting must be of great importance."

Team Hana joined the ranks of the rest of the Force, as they were assembled in the massive Conference Room. On the elevated ramp were Major Oogami and the rest of the Force's commanders.

"I know that you have been disturbed from what you've been doing," the Major started, "But this meeting is called for a very important announcement. I'll go straight to the point: I am aware that everyone here has been doing their best, but unfortunately, we haven't been making any progress. As we can see from what happened last week, our efforts are not enough to even prevent the enemy from attacking civilians. I can see that all of you want to ask what we should do about it. That's for Lt. Hayata here to explain."

By that, the Major passed the microphone to Lt. Hayata, who took it and said in his trademark impish voice, "Hisasshiburi da nee (it's been a long time) eh girls?"

Groans can be heard from the mostly female staff, knowing that Hayata loves being naughty around girls. But to their relief, he didn't harass them with his wisecracks as he usually does, as his face turned sober and proceeded with the minutes of the meeting. "All right, since we don't have that much time, I'll get down to business. Do you remember the incident last week?"

"The one at the Sairan Coliseum?" asked one of the staffers.

"Yes, I can see that your memory's still as fresh as ever. But do you remember who these are?" and as Hayata was saying this, the overhead projector flashed the images of the Blading boys. Seeing that, everyone in the hall were excited and murmurs passed around. The children in the room were excited even more when they saw their idols, but a young lady with shoulder-length, dark brown hair, who was obviously their caretaker, tried her best to calm them down. Of course, Team Hana was the most struck. "It's those rascals!" Sumire cried out.

"Those Kobu marauders!" said Kohran.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Kanna. "What about those kids?"

"Aha! I got you there!" said Lt. Hayata. "Pop quiz kids! As you all know, the Wakiji are attracted to high levels of spiritual energy. Why do you think they attacked the coliseum? Major clue: the answer is the same reason why Sumire's Kobu was activated despite its damages!"

At that, Kohran piped up, "Of course! It's because those boys have high amounts of spiritual power! So THAT's why the coliseum was attacked in the first place." And the rest of the audience murmured as they contemplated on what was said.

"Does that mean that everything that happened is their fault?" asked Sakura.

"In a way, yes," said Maria, "After all, it's their spiritual power."

"But blaming them is wrong!" Sakura said earnestly, "It's not like they willed it to happen, and I don't think they want that to happen."

"It might be the case, but it can't be helped. People who are not as open-minded and quick thinking as you are will place the blame on them..."then suddenly, it dawned on Maria. "Could it be?"

She went near the elevated ramp and said, "Assistant Commander! You're not seriously planning to..."

"Ah, you're quick thinking as always, Tachibana," and with a grin, Hayata declared, "Yes, ladies, these boys are the new members of the Neo-Imperial Capital Defense Force!"

Murmurs suddenly turned to gasps and excited yammering.

"Whoa," said Kanna, "Interesting."

"I don't believe this," Maria said, looking every bit dazed.

"Wow!" said Sakura, "New members? And boys at that! I can't wait to meet them!"

"What are you so happy about?" groaned Kohran, "Have you forgotten what those rapscallions did?"

"But they did save us, right?"

"Yes, but..."

"THAT'S PREPOSTEROUS!" cried Sumire. Her shout was so loud that everyone in the room stopped talking. The violet- haired woman strode towards the ramp and ranted, "Of all the people that you can recruit for the Force, why those charlatans! Just because they have a high amount of spiritual power doesn't automatically make them qualify!"

"She does have a point," said Maria, "For one thing, based on their records, those boys have absolutely no experience in the theater, even in the school-play level."

"That's where you come in, Tachibana," said Hayata, "And as we are only about to go into the phase of evaluating their spiritual power and physical abilities for the completion of the new Kobu series that they will be using, we will be needing all of your help. In the long run, it's THEIR help that we will be needing."

"Unacceptable!" cried Sumire, "Those kids will only be an embarrassment to the Force. Such artless street rats will only stick out like a sore thumb on the stage!"

"Oi, Sumire," Kanna piped up, "I told you not to be so obstinate. I know you'll never agree with this, but acting abilities can be learned. Spiritual power can't be learned: you have to be BORN with it. No matter what we say, those boys have all the right to be drafted to the Force and there's nothing we can do about it. Right, Assistant Commander?"

"Well said, Kirishima," said Hayata.

"But Assistant Commander!" cried Sumire, "You just can't..."

"Forget it Sumire," Kohran sighed in resignation, "After all this is what the Major ordered. All we can do is at least teach those kids ho to show some respect for the Kobu."

"I agree," said Sakura, "Besides, I don't think that those children are that bad. Don't you think we can still be friends with them? Right, Iris?"

Iris nodded quietly, but it wasn't clear whether she agreed with what Sakura said or not.

"Sakura!" Sumire harrumphed. "Stop talking about such childish things!"

"She actually has a good idea, Sumire-kun." said Major Oogami, "We recruited those boys not only because of our need for more manpower in battle, but also because it is vital for you to have some form of male companionship that I can no longer give you. As you can see, I am an old man that did not have the privilege of the cryogenic process that you girls in Team Hana had. And I strongly believe that those boys are the right ones for the job, as their simulated biography suggests."

"But Commander!" Sumire insisted, stubbornly holding her ground.

As if to ignore her, Major Oogami said, "By now, you know what your orders will be, right, Maria-kun?"

"Yes, Commander." Decisively, Maria saluted and said, "As assistant captain, I will be responsible for the training of the new recruits. Consider it done, sir!"

Sumire was still seething with frustration and anger, but seeing that she can't do anything about it, she just settled down and fell silent.

"Speaking of which, where's Beckett-han?" asked Kohran, "I don't see her around."

"The Captain?" said Maria, "She was sent to the reception area to meet someone..." again, she was struck with another realization and said, "Commander, could it be that they..."

Iris clutched her teddy bear closer. "They're here."

By hearing the little girl's ominous words, the people in the room were swept in a wave of excitement. The Major sensed their anxiety and said, "Yes ladies, the Chairman of the BBA Board, Mr. Koguro Daitenji, had informed us that these boys had accepted our offer and are now on their way here. They will go down here any minute now, and I expect you to give them a warm welcome."

* * *

The BBA van drove into the massive, park like grounds of Teito Broadcasting Studios. Even at the entrance, the children can't help but marvel at the breathtaking grounds and the architecture of the grand palace.

"Wooooooow!" cried Max. "If it ain't for the high-tech security gadgets around the perimeter, I'd say that this is not a broadcasting studio, but a grand royal palace!"

"Actually, it IS sort of one," said Kyoju, "This was a state guest residence built in the Meiji era. It's actually amazing how they managed to modernize the facilities and preserve most of the original articles at the same time. The steeple that you see in the center is actually the transmitter tower itself."

"Wicked!" said Takao, "If you're not the one telling me that, I won't believe it."

"Oh this place is sooooooooooo romantic!" Hiromi swooned, "Just look at the gardens and fountains. And that palace is soooooooooooooooo beautiful! Just look at that glittering dome on the right! It looks like a diamond glistening in the sun!"

"That dome is where the residence's grand auditorium is located," said Kyoju, "And it happens to be the biggest auditorium built for a Victorian-era architecture palace! And it can seat up to a hundred thousand people all at the same time! And what's amazing is that aside from some upholstery changes, upgrades in lighting and the addition of modern air-conditioning facilities, almost all of the structures in it remain intact! What are seen glittering on the roof are hundreds of glass panels designed to direct the available light onto the stage, but as we know, advances in technology had rendered that idea obsolete and that dome is already closed off at the ceiling..."

"Oh cut it out!" Hiroya butted in, "We didn't come here for a guided tour. Where's the military facility? I don't even see a tank around here."

"Hiroya, even if you borrow a chicken's brain, you can never be called a genius." Kai said indifferently.

"Yeah sure! A chicken like your Dranzer!"

"Will you stop it!" said Rei, "This is no time to argue. And as for the question of the military facility, it's probably hidden under the broadcast studio."

"How convenient." Dizzi, Kyoju's Bit Beast/ AI program, piped up. "A perfect front in a perfect location."

"Dizzi! Where have you been?" asked Hiromi, "I missed you!"

"Well ask Kyoju-kun! He did not even bother to turn me on when the big events happened. Why, do you think I'm only for Beyblading? NO WAY! I could've at least gotten you an analysis and reading on those Wakiji thingies!"

"Sorry, Dizzi," said Kyoju, "I know you're mad, but our thoughts are kinda too preoccupied with personal matters as well. Don't worry: I'll secretly turn you on in the base so you can here our conversation, and you can take notes. But you must promise me not to say a word, lest you scare the people there. Okay?"

"Oh, all right," said Dizzi.

As the van rolled towards the main entry, Takao asked, "Hey, there's one thing that you guys haven't told me. Where have Rei and Kai stayed these past days?"

"The new BBA head office is occupying a residential tower," explained Mr. Daitouji. "They had been staying there, courtesy of the Association, of course."

"Wow! A residential tower?" said Hiromi, "You must be enjoying a lot of luxury."

"Not really," said Rei, "You see, we're outdoors most of the time. We're investigating what the Neo-Imperial Capital Defense Force is. We managed to make our way here somehow."

"Whoa!" said Max, "Did you get in?"

"Unfortunately, we can't risk trespassing and being caught," answered Kai. "So this is actually our first time to go in. Our first try wasn't lucky. Since there are a lot of security gadgets lining the perimeter, we only got as far as the hedge before the real, high- risk area of being discovered."

"Oh, stop being so modest," said the Chairman with a little chucke. "I don't exactly call trespassing a good way of investigating, but it's remarkable how you boys managed to get into the inner radius of the area and leave without triggering the sensors."

Rei was surprised. "How did you know?"

"Well of course! The officers had told me that they caught you in one of their surveillance cameras!"

"And let me guess: they let us get away since we're coming here anyway, and as a way of testing our abilities," Kai said with a smirk, "Typical of military big shots."

"Wow!" said Hiromi, "You guys are really amazing."

"Oh stop it!" Rei blushed.

"The Chairman is right. You don't have to be modest," said Kyoju. "Now you know why you shouldn't mess with them, Hiroya?"

"Hmf. Why should I?"

Takao puts on a mock scary look and said, "Because they are ASSASSINS. Watch your back."

A (humorous) frightened look was on Hiroya's face, not from what Takao said, but from how the latter's face looked like.

"Here we are boys!"

As the Chairman said this, the van pulled over right in front of the massive doorway.

It may have been hard for the group to say what they felt in those awe-inspiring moments, as they looked at the impressive structure before them. At a closer range, the details of the massive palace are clearer, and the group was so taken away that they felt like they were swept back in time. But that illusion was broken off when a group of uniformed security guards met them at the colossal door. At that, the Chairman showed them an authorization letter, and the guards took it to take a closer look.

"Oh, the BBA people huh? Come in: they've been waiting for you since this morning."

The guards then activated the automated (!) door, and with an ominous whirring sound, it slowly opened and the group was awed even more with what they see.

The interior was much more elegant and architecturally astounding. Although the main hall is hardly decorated due to the nature of the profession that was practiced here, the structural arrangements were enough to make it stand out. Some of the massive, graceful archways were fitted with transparent glass enclosures as not to let the installations of function rooms and workstations be obtrusive to the original architectural plans.

"Weird. It's kinda quiet here," said Hiromi, "Where are all the people?"

"You won't find them here."

The group's eyes went to the base of the massive stairway.

"Hey," said Takao, "you're..."

"Yes, it's me." Lily Beckett approached the huddled group of youngsters and said, "Welcome to the base of the Neo- Imperial Capital Defense force. So, we meet again, kids."

"Come. Everyone's waiting for you."


	6. Admitted, but not welcome

The boys were all eyes and thumbs when they stood on the elevated ramp where the officers were. The predominantly female crowd was all agog and raved on how cute the new recruits were up close. The noisiest were the children, who were too eager to get close to their Beyblading idols. But despite the brouhaha, Team Hana, with the obvious exception of Sakura, remained rather indifferent towards the newcomers.

"I guess I need not introduce these boys to you, since I can see that you are familiar with them," said the Major, "but for the sake of formality and for those who don't know them yet, I'm gonna do so. These kids are from the BBA's team that won in the last year's International Beyblade Tournament. Ladies, let's welcome these boys who will form our newest division, Team Goma." Then, he turned to the boys, handed them the mike, and said, "All right, boys, kindly introduce yourselves."

Takao took the mike and said, "Kinomiya Takao, ichiban no bureeda na no des (Number one Blader)!"

"He doesn't have to say that," muttered Hiromi as she facefaulted.

"Hiwatari Kai"

"Mizuhara Max. Pleased to meet you, everybody (said in English)!"

"Kon Rei. Yoroshiku onegaishimas (pleased to meet you)!"

"That boy really looks freaky," whispered Kohran, "Just look at those eyes and fangs. He's a real-life were cat!"

"But you've gotta admit that he's cute," said Kanna, "And just hear those girls swoon over him!" And true enough, most of the females in the room were screaming as the catboy introduced himself.

"Er...the bespectacled beanpole shyly said, "Watashi wa Tamanogawa Yuuji desu. They call me 'Kyoju'."

"I wonder how that kid could see with all that hair in his eyes?" asked Kohran.

And as the mike was passed on to Hiroya, he fell silent for a few seconds before screaming into the mike, "Sakuma Hiroya, tensai bureeda man! WAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A definitive silence and mass face faulting dominated the people in the room.

"Well...looks like we have an energetic lot here as we can see," said the Major, "Boys, since you can see that there are more than two hundred of us here, I will just introduce you to the people whom you will work with the most. Okay, Team Hana and Team Kaze, go up here, right now."

A few groans were heard from the aforementioned, but knowing this is an order, they all followed nonetheless.

"Okay then," said the Major, passing the microphone to Beckett, "I'll leave the rest to you."

Nodding, and without further ado, she started, "Well, first of all, the man who spoke with you is the Commander of the Neo- Imperial Capital Defense Force, Major Ichiro Oogami. We get all the orders from him, and of course, this gentleman at the right, Lieutenant Shuei Hayata, helps him. He is basically the reason why you are here, because he's the one scouting for new members, and as you know, he had went as far as the BBA..."

"So YOU'RE the one responsible for all this!" Takao said in a raised voice.

"Takao!" Rei said warningly, "We're in the presence of authorities..."

"Whatever. No matter who he is, I don't like the way he does things like that."

"Please understand," said Hayata, "I am only doing what I am supposed to: accomplish the mission that was given to me. I admit that I did pull strings and got a bit too far, but please keep in mind that all of this is for the sake of the citizens of this country..."

"I know I know," Takao harrumphed, "If not for that, I'd give you what you really deserve whether you're a big shot or not..."

(SFX: BUGSSSHHHHHHHH!)

Promptly giving Takao an uppercut, Hiromi yelled "FOR ONCE, WILL YOU PLEASE WATCH YOUR MANNERS!"

A massive sweatdrop hung over the ceiling at that moment.

"Whoa, missy" said Kanna, "You're rather violent for a girlfriend..."

With an oversized head, Hiromi yelled, "I'M NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!"

At that, the massive sweatdrop fell down and momentarily drowned the audience.

Even Beckett was so stunned that it took a long time before she finally managed to say, "O...kay. I guess that makes things clear. Let's move on. These girls are the ones that you'll be closely working with. Let's start with Team Hana."

"This is Maria Tachibana, the team's assistant captain. If you have any concerns about military matters, she's the one whom you should talk to. She'll also be in charge of your basic training."

"Probably you have seen her many times on TV, but for the sake of formality, I'll introduce her fully to you. This is Sumire Kanzaki, Touted as this network's to star and is also the frontliner in the battlefield as well."

"This is Sakura Shinguuji. She may not be the best performer, but she has one of the best fighting abilities we have. Her interpersonal skills are a bonus."

"Hi," said Sakura, waving at the boys.

"No kidding," muttered Takao, "She's the only friendly one around here so far."

"This is Iris Chateubriand, obviously the youngest in the group. Also a celebrity in her own right, speaking may not be her best skill, but her psychokinesis sure is."

"Hiya," said Max, "You're a cute one!"

"Wow!" said Hiromi, "Your teddy bear's cute! What's his name?"

But the little girl withdrew and backed off.

"What's the matter?" asked Hiromi, "Did I scare her?"

"Please pardon us," said Beckett, "Iris doesn't take kindly to strangers."

"Weird girl," mumbled Takao.

"Okay then," said Beckett, "Let's continue. This...uh...towering lady here is Kanna Kirishima, the muscle of the team in all senses of the word."

"Hiya kiddies," said Kanna with a rather impish grin.

"And this one with glasses is Li Kohran, the official mechanic of the division. She's the one in charge of most of the jobs involving our fighting machines, the Kobu."

"What? Cobra?" Takao said, obviously to egg the aforementioned.

"I TOLD YOU IT'S NOT COBRA!"

"Okay, okay" said Beckett, "That's enough. Boys, so that's Team Hana, The team with which you will be sharing the battlefield with. Next is Team Kaz, the people in charge of the mostly technical stuff around here."

Pointing to the tall, auburn-haired lady, Beckett said, "This is Amelia Barrameda, a recruit from Spain. In the broadcast studio, she's the chief of operations, and that goes with her work in the battlefield as well."

"This is Chu Zhou-ming" motioning to a slender girl with long black hair, "head technician of the studio and control center battle support."

"Shiori and Saeki Hamada, supplies control and management of the network, and the main technicians of the control center."

And finally pointing to the girl with short, dark- brown hair from before, Beckett said, "And finally, this is Shaina Corpuz, a recruit from the Philippines. She's the main data manager, and also in charge of Team Sora, which are composed of those kids back there who are making such a ruckus..."

"Please excuse me, Captain!" said the aforementioned, as she hastily ran down the ramp and tried her best to calm down her rambunctious wards, telling them to settle down and wait for the chance for them to get close to their Beyblading idols.

"Well then," said Beckett, as she motioned to the people on the ramp, "so those are the people that you'll be in constant contact with on the job. So girls, what do you say? Why don't we give them all a warm welcome?"

"Geez! Takao piped up, "I haven't been dealing with girls, but I guess that's the way it is." Reaching out his hand, he said "Put 'em there!"

"Yeah" said Max, doing the same.

All were surprised when suddenly, Sumire slapped the two boys' arms forcefully.

"OW!" cried Takao, "What did you do that for!"

"How dare you!" cried Sumire, "You have such nerve to be so open-facedly rude after what you have done to my Kobu!"

"Oi, Sumire!" Kanna said warningly.

Hiromi strode to the violet-haired woman and said, "Now WHAT's your problem, lady! Don't tell us that you haven't gotten over what happened last week!"

"Why, if it isn't the insolent girl! That's it!" and with that, Sumire turned away and walked down the elevated ramp.

"Sumire-kun!" Beckett said warningly.

"I don't want to waste my time on these street urchins. Train them for all I care. But make sure that they won't get in my way!"

"Well, that's Sumire for you," said Kanna as she shrugged her shoulders."

"Captain," said Maria, "shall we begin with the new recruits' briefing now?"

"That can wait until tomorrow. Right now, these boys need to rest and settle in their new surroundings."

"Then, I guess I don't have anything else to do" and with that, Maria turned and also walked down the ramp.

"I guess I also have to beat it, then," said Kohran "I still have work to do." And the bespectacled girl also went down the stage. The quiet Iris also followed suit.

"Wait, minna-san!" cried Sakura. She followed, but not before bowing before the boys with an emphatic, "Sumimasen!" The towering Kanna shrugged her shoulders and cast the boys a half helpless, half apologetic look as she followed the others that were making their way out of the room.

"Girls!" Beckett said, but seeing that it was too late to stop them, she turned to the Major.

"Yare yare (oh, boy)" sighed the Major, "Guess nothing has changed for the past eighty years," Giving the dismissal, the people in the room made their way outside the room, leaving the boys staring at one another.

"Guys," said Hiromi, "Are you sure you want to work with these kind of people?"

They fell silent for a few moments. Finally, after staying silent for the duration of the previous scenes, Kai said, "Those women aren't letting us into their turf that easily. Looks like we have to fight our way into it. I'm up to their challenge. How about you?"

With a weird look in his eyes, Takao said, "For once, I won't argue on that."

* * *

"So that means we won't be going to school anymore?"

"Well," said the Chairman, "For the most part, yes."

"ALRIGHT!" Takao jumped up and down on the bed assigned to him. "No school! WOHOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The group was now placed into the bedroom assigned to them. True to the architecture of the whole building, the massive bedroom is every bit as astounding as the other rooms. But knowing Takao, all of this has no meaning as he gleefully made a trampoline out of his bed.

"Oh no you don't" said Hiromi as she pulled him down.

"Now what's your problem o great queen of the tenth grade! Don't tell me that you're still planning to boss me around here! You're not included so you have no business here. Just your luck, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!"

"Laugh all you want, coz you still have to deal with HOME STUDY!"

At those words the blue haired fellow fell flat on the bed.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

"You heard her right," said the Chairman, "Senkaishin Naval Academy has a special learning program for those of you who'll take part in actual military work."

"And you know what that means,'" said Hiromi. "No escape from homework. And we'll make sure that you'll do it everyday!"

The blue haired fellow groaned and rolled in his bed, as the people around him laughed.

"Looks like those girls aren't the only problems your only problem now. Speaking of which, those girls ARE a problem."

"You said it," said Kyoju, "Since they are actresses, they can be very moody and volatile. But whatever their mood is, they will never welcome the likes of us."

"That makes things more complicated," as Rei was saying this, he stared outside the window and continued, "Considering that those bunch of brats ARE in this force, and therefore, a lot more capable than us in battle than us, who are just fresh recruits. And from the likes of it, it's as if they're looking down on us."

"Aww who cares?" said Takao, "They can look down on us for all we care."

"You just don't get it," facing the group, Rei said, "Those women will NEVER want to work with us. And that will badly reflect on us in battle."

The group fell silent, apparently affected by these words.

"Oh, cut it out!" said Hiromi.

"Hiromi!"

"So what if those girls don't want you around? It's their problem, since it's their superiors who wanted you here in the first place. And just think: why did they add you into this Force? It's because those girls can't defeat those monsters by themselves! And being the egotistic brats that they are, they can't accept the fact that they will be needing the help of kids younger than they are, and BOYS at that! So no matter how much they don't wand to accept you, they'll eventually be forced to. It's for their own good!"

"She's got a point," said Kai, "Besides, they're only 6 against the 254 who seemed to like our presence."

"Right on!" said Max, "If they can't accept us, we'll find a way to make them!"

"BLADEBREAKERS, GO!"


	7. Warm hearts, cold hands

After a day of touring the studio and listening to the captain's rather informal briefing, the boys exhaustedly flopped onto their beds that night.

"I'm flumped," gasped Kyoju. "This place is unbelievably HUGE!"

"Unbelievable" moaned Max, trying to regain his breath. "I can't believe that they are actually using the acting arts to extract spiritual power for their mecha. Not to mention that weird mecha...it's almost hard to imagine that we will be riding in one of those in the coming days!"

"Not to mention the kids that mobbed us back there," added Rei, who was lying face down on his bed. "I'm glad those girls didn't see that or they'll be jealous!"

"I can't move," groaned Takao.

The boys laid flat on their backs as they stared into the well-decorated ceiling. After falling silent for a few moments, Takao said, "Hey guys, well...what made you accept the offer?"

"Why did you ask that all of a sudden?" asked Rei.

"Well, we all know that this training thing is no picnic, and we're leaving a lot of people behind."

"To be honest," said Rei, "It's kinda hard for me to leave the Tribe after leaving it for so long. But I have no time to think about that, since I know that there are a lot more people who will need my services here."

"Same goes for me," said Max, "I'm not sure, but there's something in me that says I need to do this, no matter what. And besides, I will get a chance to do something big outside of Beyblading."

"Mom and Dad kinda panicked when they first read the summons and were unwilling to let go of me at first," said Kyoju, "Daitouji-san had a hard time convincing them that it's my obligation to render my services in times like this, but he managed to. Actually, I kinda find it odd. I don't have a Holy Beast, yet I was one of those who were chosen."

"What do you mean you DON'T HAVE ONE!" exclaimed Dizzi, who was recharging at a nearby desk.

"Sorry to offend you, Dizzi. But you know very well that you can't really do much for me now."

"Oh yeah? Put me in one of those Kobu thingies and watch those girls eat their words against you!"

"Thanks Dizzi," said Kyoju, as he gave some rather caressing keystrokes on the laptop. "but I have to prove to those girls that I'm worth recruiting. Don't worry; once we have settled here, I'll let the officers know of your volunteering."

"Awwshucks, thanks, Kyoju-kun," said Dizzi.

"How about you, Hiroya?" asked Takao, "What did your folks say?"

"Same as Kyoju: my folks went berserk and the Chairman had a hard time talking them out of barring me from the BBA."

"WHAT!"

"Yep. They don't exactly want me to be a Blader, since to them, it's a waste of time and money. And now, they're even blaming the BBA for throwing me into this military outfit." He shrugged. "Oh well. I guess this genius just outgrew them I suppose."

"Would you cut that out?" Takao said angrily. "You're not exactly doing a good service to your folks in that way..."

"Leave him alone."

"Kai?"

"This is his personal problem. If he doesn't want to tell you anything, let him be. We could at least respect each other's privacy. Not that I care."

"Aww, I don't think he's sure about that" Dizzi piped up in a syrupy voice.

"Oh well," sitting up, Takao said, "at least we could do whatever we can to not lose touch of each other. I don't know why, but I just know that we have to. After all, we're all on the same boat."

"You couldn't be more right," sighed Rei. "Ever since Hiromi and the Chairman had left, I felt that we had been transported into another land. We've only got each other now, so we can't afford to fight."

"Can't agree more," said Max, "and besides, we can show those girls teamwork, Bladebreakers style!"

"I'd dare say that that's the one thing they can't shake a stick at," said Kyoju.

A knock on the door startled them.

"Now who could that be?" asked Takao, "It's late in the night."

"I'll get it," said Rei, as he quickly bounded (!) for the door. When he opened it, he and everyone else in the room were surprised. "You're..."

Hesitantly standing still in the doorway, there was Sakura, as she said,  
"Uh...may I...may I come in?"

"Uh, sure," said Rei, "Come in."

The others smirked. "That's Rei for you," said Max, "a bona fide ladies' man"

"So what can we do for you?" asked Kyoju.

"Uh...I came here to apologize."

Before the boys realized what was happening, Sakura was bowing down profusely and said, "Sumimasen! Honto ni gomen nasai! (I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry!) I'm really sorry for what happened this morning! It's just that...it's just that everybody's not in a good mood...but I know that's not a good enough reason to treat you like that. That's why I'm apologizing I couldn't even do something about it. I'm very sorry!"

"Whoa whoa, slow down," said Max, "we're not really angry with what happened."

"He's right," said Kyoju, "Besides, I can see that you don't have that much authority so you couldn't do anything about your teammates' behavior. At least, we now know that someone's still thinking in our favor."

"Thank you for being so understanding," said Sakura, "but I couldn't rest until you have formally given me your forgiveness!" bowing down as low as she could, she said "Please give me your forgiveness."

"Weird girl," muttered Hiroya.

"Well, almost everyone in Team Hana is weird, but I don't really mind," Takao said with an impish grin. Approaching Sakura, he knelt down to her level and said, "Apology accepted."

Brightening up, Sakura did the formal kneeling and said, "Arigatou gozaimas!"

In a rather playful mood, Takao said, "Domo. Now arise, my faithful warrior, and do the deed!" Everybody did a quizzical stare at each other before breaking out into laughter.

"Aha, cozying up with the newcomers eh?"

Standing in the doorway is the impressionable towering figure that they all got to be familiar with.

"Kanna-san!" said Sakura. Standing up, she said, "What are you doing here?"

"That's what I'm gonna ask you. But I figured out that you can't pass the night without your rather ritualistic apology." Kanna turned to the boys and said "May I come in?"

"Sure!" said Max. "Right guys?" and everyone in the room nodded.

"Boy, you kids sure are a friendly lot," said Kanna. As she walked inside, she took a long look at the boys and said, "And the staff girls have a good reason to go gaga over you. In fairness, you're an unusually cute bunch."

"Awwshucks..."

"But you know, good looks are not enough to get the other members of our team's attention and respect. I'm gonna be honest: they're not as understanding as Sakura and myself. In fact, their standards are higher than what could be expected from a normal person. That just makes them so impossible."

"You're telling me," sighed Kyoju.

"But I guess I need not worry," said the redheaded, muscled woman as she surveyed the group of young boys around her. "From what I can see so far, you're not really that affected by the shabby treatment the others gave you, especially the 'snake woman'."

"Snake woman?" asked Takao.

"That's what Kanna-san usually calls Sumire- san," explained Sakura, "And I'm telling you, Sumire-san really gets mad when being called that!"

"Snake lady huh?" said Takao, grinning mischievously. He and the others imagined a half snake, half woman creature with the likeness of the violet-haired Sumire. At that, everybody (except Kai, obviously) burst out into a loud, rambunctious laughter.

"Yep, I can see that you are not easily affected by strong personalities," said Kanna, "and maybe that's the reason why the Major got you here. Oh well, guess I have to go. Oi, Sakura, we better hit it. We still have another taping session tomorrow."

"Uh, h-hai!" Bowing down again at the boys, Sakura said "Arigatou gozaimas! Oyasumi nasai! (Thanks a lot! Good night!)"

"Yeah, same to you!" "Oyasumi!"

The two started heading for the door when Kanna stopped and turned back. "Hey, I almost forgot. Oi, you long-haired were cat with the yin-yang bandana."

"Who? Me?"

"Yep. You're Rei, right?"

"That's the name. Why?"

"Before you came here, the Major showed us video footages that were taken from last week's incident. I'd say you guys really kicked butt, but for me, Rei really stood out the most. He'd beaten up those Wakiji with his bare fists. I'd say you're really keen at being a martial artist."

"You think so?" asked Rei, a bit sheepish from the compliment.

"You bet. Hey, would you like a sparring session on one of these days?"

"Really?"

"Yep. But I'm warning you, even if you're a kid, I'm not gonna be easy on you."

"That's my line," said the catboy with a rather impish grin.

"Oh well, I gotta go now. See you tomorrow."

As the door to their room closed, the boys readily jumped in their beds, lightened by the fact that they just had a friendly conversation.

"Whoa, that was sweet!" sighed Max, his face turning into "Mokona mode"

"At least someone from the team acknowledged that what they did was wrong," said Kyoju. "And come to think of it, those two aren't brats at all."

"She called me cute!" said Takao, his eyes sparkling. "She called me cute, guys!"

"Yeah," said Kai, "But will you seriously go on a date with that musclewoman, dare I ask?"

The blue-haired fellow fell flat on his face as everyone else around him laughed.

"Leave it to Kai to burst a bubble of wishful thinking," said Dizzi.

"He has every reason to," said Kyoju, "Remember that we're not here for a vacation. We better prepare for the coming days, because we don't know when our formal training will start."

"You mean the theatrical training?" said Rei. "By the way, I really find it interesting. Tapping the spiritual power of combatants thru acting: that's one uncanny idea. No wonder this place is heavily guarded: that secret is very powerful and dangerous when it falls into the wrong hands."

"You said it," said Kyoju, "Like what we saw in the hangar, this facility is every robot scientist's dream come true."

"You mean YOUR dream come true," said Takao, "I never saw anyone huggle an industrial processor like you do. Not to mention that you almost squashed the leg of that Kobu thingy with your bear hug," and he face faulted as he remembered how they tried their best to restrain Kyoju, as the latter hugged and brushed his cheeks against the side of every high end computer and machinery in sight.

"That's Kyoju for you," said Max, "A computer maniac till the end."

"And you forgot that someone's getting jealous here..." Dizzi said in a singsong voice.

The people around her laughed.

"Well, I guess I got to turn in for the night," said Takao, as he stifled a yawn. "I'm bent."

"That goes for all of us," said Kyoju, "We need all the rest we can get for tomorrow."

After turning of the light and saying their good-nights, everybody curled up into their beds and soon, the room was dominated with silence, as all of them succumbed to the Sandman's call. All...except one.

The moonlight streaming from the windows framing the sharp, defined edges of his Dranzer, the gleam of the top containing the phoenix spirit was what kept Kai's eyes on the bedside table wher it lay. At those moments, he recalled how, once again, he held his ground against his grandfather, just for him to get here. The heat of their previous argument was still clear in his mind.

_I'll never tell him a damn thing, that's what I told myself. But too bad, somehow, he got his dirty hands on the letter. And that's when I asked him: if he wanted our family's honor to be restored, why wouldn't he let me join the Force?_

_"That is NOT the way our clan does it! That sorry excuse for a military institution is nothing more than a ridiculous circus! Our kind will gain absolutely nothing from being involved in that!"_

_"Circus!"_

_"What else will you call that mawkish nonsense called the theater!"_

_"Hey wait. How did you learn about that!"_

_"Of course. I'm your grandfather! I should know everything that's going on with my grandson!"_

_"Look who's talking. Aren't you the one who dragged me into everything that made my life a living hell in the first place? And aren't you the one who nearly ransacked this planet many times at that? So stop acting like you're concerned about me, because it's damn obvious that you're NOT!"_

_"Don't turn your back on me!"_

_"Why shouldn't I? You will do likewise, if I'm no longer useful to you."_

_"Ingrate! Don't you forget that I'm the one who raised you ever since your parents ere gone. And for that, you'll answer only to ME!"_

_"You're lucky that I've been conditioned not to kill anyone without a good reason, otherwise I would've gotten your throat by now."_

_"Why you..."_

_"Stop dominating me, because you never will. I will restore this family's honor in MY own way."_

_Yes, in my own way_. As he clutched the blanket, that fierce, resolute look once again burned in his deep, crimson eyes. _I will do it in my own way. And no one, not even him, or those girls, will stop me._


	8. Assignments

Early morning, at the Teito Broadcasting Studios.

The vast, park like grounds were given a fairy-tale like atmosphere by the morning mist and the gentle tweeting of the resident birds. All looked so peaceful, that it was perfect for a daily morning meditation.

The sound of silence permeating her senses, and magnifying them...

To the extent of identifying a lone dewdrop's exact location...

As soon as she did, within a matter of a fraction of a second, she drew out her sword and split the dewdrop in two. But,...she sensed that something is wrong.

Looking back, Sakura was startled to see Max and Kyoju standing behind her, their eyes reduced to orbs as the top portions of their spiked hair fell down. And when Kyoju's glasses were split in half...

Their scream pierced the silence of the studios' grounds...

"Sumimasen! I didn't know you're here!..."

"So you mean to say that you almost got fricasseed by her sword?"

"Is this any proof?" said Kyoju, as he showed the portion of his hair that was cut off.

"But why did you go near her in the first place?" asked Rei. "You could've just called her."

"It was you who said that morning meditations are essential for all martial artists," said Max, "and how will we know that that was she will do?"

"And like last night, she apologized non-stop" said Kyoju.

"Poor girl," said Rei, "no wonder she doesn't have that much authority. She's such a pushover."

As they made their way towards the mess hall, they noticed a big crowd that was forming at its door.

"What's going on?" asked Max, "does it get this crowded here?"

"I don't think so," said Rei, "the mess hall has a lot of space. Everyone in here won't need to crowd like that, and that's what makes it strange."

"I don't have a good feeling about this," said Kyoju.

The three of them pushed through the crowd, and when they got to the center of all the attention, they were all startled with what they see.

"Yep," said Kyoju, "just as expected..."

Piles of plates were strewn all over the table that the crowd had gathered around to see. And as expected, the suspect is Takao, who made a relay-eating race out of the routine breakfast and made all of the mess hall workers work double time. The crowd has mixed reactions: some were disgusted, and others were amused.

The three could do nothing else but face fault.

* * *

Making their way towards the commanders' room, the group was berating Takao on making a bad impression on his first day. The blue- haired fellow retorted that he was only being himself, and that he needs all the energy that he lost the previous night, and for the formal training on this day. "Besides," he added, "Who cares about impressions? It's not like I have to answer to anyone, like those girls."

Hey guys, speaking of which," said Max, "I haven't seen those girls anywhere in the hall. Where do they eat?"

"One of the attendants told me that since Team Hana is the frontline team, they are given high priority. They can have their meals in their bedroom," recalled Rei.

"No wonder they act so high and mighty" said Kyoju, "and from the looks of it, the Commander can't do much, since they ARE the vital members of this Force."

"But now, they better get off their high horses," said Takao, "since we are a force to be reckoned with!"

"I kinda don't like that idea," said Max, "Can't we just be friends with them or something?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple as that," said Rei, "As we saw yesterday, they aren't exactly a friendly lot to begin with. So conflicts with them are unavoidable. Oh here we are."

"Oh look, our fifth and sixth wheel."

"Where have you guys been?" asked Hiroya, "We've been waiting for you the whole day."

"Don't ask," said Kai, as he walked of the door that he was leaning against. "For all I know, Takao has given a new meaning to 'mess hall' that's why you're late. Am I right?"

"Ehehehehehe..." Takao grinned impishly.

"You guys do know each other a lot," said Hiroya.

"Well of course, since we've been together for almost six years in a row," said Kyoju, "By the way, let's straighten ourselves, Remember, we're about to go into the Commander's room." Then, as the boys looked at each other, sighed and straightened up, Kyoju said, "Ready?"

And he knocked on the door. Seconds later, an attendant opened it. Surveying the group, she said,

"Come in. The Commander's waiting for you."

Rather hesitantly, the boys entered the Commander's massive room. And they have every reason to be; the interior decoration is just as sparing yet elegant. And it was further accented by the synchronized arrangement of antique furniture and modern technological equipment, where several of the Commander's female assistants were working. As the group approached the Commander's desk, the assistants looked up from their workstations and whispered among themselves, again gawking at the boys' collective cuteness.

"Awwshucks, being good looking sure is the best. Just hear them swoon."

"They're looking at the spinach stuck in your teeth, Takao."

"Shut up. You're just jealous."

As the boys went closer to the desk, they saw Lily Beckett and the Commander talking. When they saw the group they promptly stooped talking and faced them.

"So there you are" said Beckett, "How was your first night? Slept well?"

"Couldn't be better," said Max, "This place is more like a five-star hotel than a military base!"

"And that's what makes it an effective front," said Beckett, "And judging from what happened this morning, I'd say you boys quickly felt at ease with your surrounding. Just don't go too far like that again, or you might send this place into bankruptcy."

"Ehehehehehehe..."

Promptly giving Takao an elbow in the ribs, Kyoju said, "We really appreciate your kind reception, Ma'm. But we're also aware that this is no vacation, and we're about to go into serious training. So, when will we start?"

"Hmm..." said the Commander, "Interesting. Almost all of you have a sunny disposition, yet you're already geared for duty. A very good combination, I'd say, since your training starts right at this moment."

"RIGHT NOW!" the boys chorused.

"Yep kiddos. There's no time to waste now, since we need all of you are needed for the task at hand as soon as possible. Beckett here will lead you to the rehearsal hall. Maria-kun is waiting for you."

"Maria?"

"Oh, the one in charge of our basic training," said Kyoju.

"So let's see: Kinomiya, Hiwatari, Mizuhara and Kon will follow Beckett to the room..."

"Wait!" said Hiroya, "what about me and Kyoju!"

"Don't rush," said the Commander with a rather amused grin. "I have other plans for you, Sakuma and Tamanogawa,"

"Other plans?"

"Yep," said the Commander, "Iwaji!"

Promptly, one of the assistants went to the desk.

"You two will follow Iwaji to the hangar. Kohran-kun is waiting there."

"But what will we do?"

"You'll see."

* * *

"I wonder what kind of training will be given to Kyoju and Hiroya" said Takao, "Aren't we supposed to be training together?"

"They will be working on a different field," said Beckett, "But they'll still be working closely with you."

"They're doing the training in the hangar," said Rei, "I guess they'll be on the more technical roles, like computers and maintenance of battle machines."

"That's what Kyoju's good at!" said Max.

"It's really amazing how perceptive you kids are," said Beckett.

"Nothing to it, really," said Max, "It's just that we know each other a lot."

"Is that so?"

As they approached the alleyway where the rehearsal hall was located, they saw a crowd of young people jostling and walking to and fro.

"Who are they?" asked Takao.

"They're new talents, just like you," said Beckett.

"Wow! We're going to train with them?" asked Max.

"Nope. You boys are high priority, so you'll be given a special training."

"Aww, we didn't know that we were that special," said Takao.

"Don't get on Cloud 9 just yet," said Kai. "'Special training' means that we'll be given something more intensive than what's given to the people in this hall."

"Intensive your foot, sourpuss," said Takao.

"Here we are."

Stopping at one of the hallway's massive doors, she casually opened it and let the boys follow her inside the cavernous training hall.

"Look at the size of this place!" said Max, "Every room in this place is HUGE!"

"The Meiji era did leave a lot of useful structures like this one," said Beckett, "Oh, there they are!"

The group approached the two persons seated at the piano. Coming closer, the boys saw that one was the person that they were looking for, and the other's another unfamiliar person.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," said Beckett, "This lady with Maria-kun is Miori Kinoshita, Team Hana's overall director of stage performances."

"Kinoshita-sensei," said Maria, "These are the new recruits that just arrived yesterday."

"Oh my, the rumors are right! You boys really are good looking," said Kinoshita.

"Awwshucks," went Takao and Max. Rei and Kai merely gave her a puzzled look.

"But I don't think we're any better looking," Rei finally said, "considering that you might have seen a lot more good looking people than us."

"Oh yes, I have seen them all. People are like jewels: some are polished and genuine like Team Hana; others are polished yet fakes, like those wannabes who can't even make it to the preems. Others are just plain stones like the average person; and there are also those that are deceptively plain-looking, but are actually heavy-carat gemstones that are just waiting to be discovered. Yes, I know hidden potential when I see it!"

"But don't cozy yourselves just yet," said Maria, in a rather more serious tone, "Since you are rough diamonds, you will be drilled with the hardest materials, starting with me. I'm telling you, I'm not gonna be that easy."

"Not gonna be easy huh?" said Takao. "Try me."

"Uppity eh?" said Kinoshita. "Well, guess I'll get back to you as soon as you finish the basic training," as she and Beckett walked out of the hall, the bays stared at each other rather excitedly as the door closed and they heard the words,

"Ganbatte ne. (Do your best)"

By hearing the ominous clacking of the door's lock, the light from the corridors were shut off from the hall and are replaced by the streams of sunlight that came from the ceiling-high windows. With rather authoritative sounding steps, Maria strode towards the piano on the elevated part of the floor and said,

"Are you ready?"

* * *

"So we are not taking part in the stage stuff?" asked Kyoju.

"Yes. You two will be in the technical side of Team Goma," replied Iwaji in a rather nonchalant tone.

"Whew!" said the bespectacled beanpole. "Not THAT's a relief. Acting is not in my blood. I can't even recite a nursery rhyme."

"A loser in the acting field," muttered Dizzi in a minimized volume, "But try beating him in advanced calculus..."

"You girls sure know who to look for," said Hiroya, "No one does the job better than this genius!"

"Really? Then you have to make sure that you are in the league of our resident geniuses."

"That Iwaji sure is hard to crack huh?" Dizzi mumbled.

"Here we are."

"WHOA!" went the two boys as they stared at the glass- covered complex that makes up the main hangar of the base. As Iwaji punched in her card and access code on her the main entrance, the massive glass-and- steel gate opened up, offering a better view of the complex's sophisticated machinery to those who go inside.

"I think I'm in Heaven," said Kyoju, as he danced past the machineries, attracting the attention of the technicians, engineers and scientists in sight and amusing them.

"Well, better get back down to earth because we are about to start." Saying this, Iwaji pointed towards the colossal shelving upon which the Kobu units were stored. As they went closer, they saw a familiar figure working on the yellow Kobu.

"Kohran!" said Iwaji, "The boys are here. Deal with them."

"Okay, just a minute!" said the braided, bespectacled girl as she clung to a nearby hook crane and slid down from the top shelving. "So what do we have here? Oh, the genius and the geek. This should be good."

"She called me a geek," said Kyoju, downtrodden.

"Heeheehee, this genius is right here at your service, baby," said Hiroya.

"As Iwaji left the hangar Kohran continued her rather complex briefing on the boys' role in the battlefield, including the Kobu repair, ammunition and repair supplies and how they should use the craft that they are assigned to, the Vitalis 635. So engrossed was she in her lecturein fact, her glasses had fogged over as she was talkingthat she was caught unawares whan a worker piped up, "The kid with glasses is not here."

"Eh? Where did he go?"

The same man pointed towards the direction of the Kobu shelving. Kohran and Hiroya looked in that direction and their jaws promptly dropped to the floor when they saw that Kyoju was at the yellow Kobu and was playing around with the machine work with her tools

"AIYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Kohran's scream reverberated across the main hangar as she crawled up the shelving wit such speed that Kyoju did not anticipate her strangling grip.

"What do you think you're doing!" Kohran ranted, shaking the poor boy, "You're NOT supposed to touch the Kobu without my permission!" As the braided girl continued to strangle the bespectacled beanpole, the same worker went up the yellow Kobu and switched on the motor.

"Uh, Kohran..."

"WHAT IS IT!"

"It's working."

Dropping Kyoju, who was coughing from the grip, Kohran stared at the yellow Kobu and realized what's going on.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATT!"

Hurriedly rummaging through the Kobu's insides, Kohran stared incredulously when she saw that the Kobu was indeed fixed. How did he do that!

Turning to the beanpole, Kohran demanded, "How in the universe did you do that! I was wrecking my brain a while ago on why this guy isn't working! But You got it fixed before I even know it! Tell me, who really ARE you!"

Kyoju cleared his throat and said, "What I did is no magic: I just figured out that this thing runs on hydrothermal principles, and machines of the sort have basically the same structure. So in other words, I just followed the basics in fixing this guy."

"Basics?" groaned Kohran "I'd say you're from another planet!"

Hiroya was staring bug eyed at the whole scene. He's NOT the only genius around here!

"Poor Kohran", said a lab technician, "Another one's pride bites the dust."


	9. Seeing Bit Beasts

As the days rolled by, the rehearsal hall was the silent witness to the four boys' intensive theatrical training. First learning the basic vocalizations, the gardeners working on the garden right outside the hall have to endure the excruciatingly out-of-key voices that echoed throughout the area around the hall. Next was the dance part, and Maria WAS the one who had a hard time since the boys' arms and legs were all going in the wrong way. Bringing in Kinoshita did help ease the burden, but both instructors and students tired each other out in those long, exhaustive days.

But to the instructors' relief, the boys seemed to catch on, and by the time that the month ended, they had a fairly good grasp on what they had learned so far. By the second month, the boys had been officially launched as the new members of the Teito Broadcasting Studios' All-Purpose Acting Troupe, but only starring in small roles for starters of course, and as the weeks rolled by, their roles began to gradually increase in number and importance.

One night, still in his rehearsal tights, Takao fell flat on his bed, exhausted. "No more. I can't move. My batteries are totally drained."

The same can be heard from the other three as they likewise fell flat on their beds, flat as starfishes. Kyoju and Hiroya were buried deeply into the books (literally) that they were made to read that they had to look up to see what the others meant by "totally drained".

"Hey guys, our study modules had just arrived." said Kyoju.

"Not now, Kyoju," moaned Takao, "I'm too tired to even lift a finger."

"Oh boy, looks like all school work has to be halted" Dizzi piped up from her recharging station, "The guys have some major recharging to do."

"Hey, by the way," said Kyoju, "The Commander was asking us if you can give them your Holy Beasts."

At that, the boys snapped out of their exhausted stupor and abruptly sat up.

"WHAAAAAAAT!"

"Dizzi, what were you saying about them needing recharging?" asked Hiroya.

"Don't ask me. Humans are NOT supposed to recharge like this laptop."

"Yes," said Kyoju, "I'm serious. They need your Holy Beasts."

"No way!" cried Takao. "First they put us through this hell hole called the theater and now, they want us to mess with our Holy Beasts!"

"Wait, settle down!" said Kyoju, "They're actually setting up an important proposition."

"And what is that!"

"They said that they will give us our very own Kobu units, right?"

"So?"

"The basic principles upon which these things are run are steam power and spiritual power. The current units that are run by the girls are using special minerals called the Ryoshin crystals, which converts spiritual energy into physical energy. But since your spiritual powers are based on your Beyblades, another core type is needed..."

"Let me guess," Kai butted in, "that would be our Holy Beasts."

"Exactly," said Kyoju.

"But I just can't let those big shots play with my Dragoon like a lab rat!" Takao protested.

"Same goes for me!" seconded Max and Rei.

"They're NOT gonna get their dirty hands on my Dranzer," Kai maintained.

"I know this would be a problem," sighed Kyoju. Try as he might, he still couldn't convince the four to allow their holy Beasts to be handed over. Finally, Kyoju shouted, "You just don't know how much your stubbornness is costing you!" and with that, he ran out of the room.

"Say what you want!" Takao shouted back, "I'm NOT giving my Dragoon!"

"But how do you expect to join the battle without a Kobu?"

"Even you, Hiroya!"

"I'm just being realistic here. We've been told may times that we're not here for a vacation. This is still a military base, and we still have to fight. Are you prepared to exchange the safety of Tokyo for your Holy Beasts' freedom?"

"Say what you want, genius!" said Takao, "But even a genius like you won't understand how we fell because you don't have one!"

"Boys!" Dizzi said warningly, "Geez, this is the time that I wish I have a hand."

But Hiroya doesn't seem to share Dizzi's indignation and instead, flipped over in his bed and said, "I don't want to put up a fight, guys. I'm just saying what we're really up against."

* * *

The morning after was marked by silence and an air of indignation exuded by the usually lively boys. The superiors noticed the change and asked them what's wrong, but the boys only gave them the cold shoulder and ignored their question. Asking the Major what they should do, he just said,

"They're making the most important decision regarding their 'friends'. I'd advise you not to ask the further about it. It's their own battle."

As Team Hana was walking down the hall to their own rehearsals, Sakura said, "The boys sure are acting strange, right?"

"Uh huh," said Kanna, "they sure are. They're not as lively as before."

"Maria-san, you're the one handling their training," said Sakura, "Do you have an idea?"

"Well, the Major said something about them making a decision on their 'friends'."

"Friends?"

"I think he means the boys' Holy Beast thingies," said Kohran.

"Holy Beast what?"

"Kyoju told me everything a while ago," and Kohran explained to the girls all about the Bit Beasts, their roles in the boys' lives, and the Major's proposal of including them in the new Kobu units' framework.

"Interesting," said Kanna.

"Yes. Imagine, such ancient beings in the hands of such young children!" said Maria, "No wonder those boys have so much spiritual energy. One who would possess such beings must have such power!"

"But you can't blame them for being so overprotective of their Holy Beasts," said Sakura, "Like what Kohran-san had said, the boys had gone through a lot just to protect them from a lot of nasty people who wanted their power."

"Still, they have to give them to the CGS Heavy Works sooner or later," said Kohran, "Construction couldn't be done unless the cores are available. This really is hard, considering that America's PPB facility, that owns the Holy Beast integration device, cannot keep the machine in Japan for a long time."

"But they still are children after all," said Maria, "we cannot do more now than give them more room."

"You can't be more right," said Kanna, "right, Sumire? Sumire?...Oi!"

"Don't ask my opinion, since I don't have any."

"But Sumire-san," said Sakura, "You could at least have something to say about the Holy Beast stuff."

"Didn't you hear me!" Sumire harrumphed in an annoyed voice, "I don't have any because I don't care. And I just can't understand why everybody's giving so much importance to such low-life street rats like them." With that, the violet-haired woman strode on ahead.

"Well," said Kanna, shrugging her shoulders, "that's Sumire for you."

* * *

The moon embraced the garden walk with such a soft luminance that one can't help but set eyes on the whole array of greens and bodies of water that reflect the gentle light, and momentarily get in the way of what thoughts one might have in those moments. Momentarily indeed, for even the garden's inviting aura hasn't got Rei's mind off the big decision at hand. _Of course I can't let Driger fall into the strange hands again. But...we must also consider that the Force is just finding a way to make itself stronger for battle_. He sighed, as he slumped on the bridge walk's well carved railing. _What should I do?_

Taking notice of a figure slipping into his sight, Rei pricked up his pointed were-cat ears and saw that it was Iris, who is as usual holding her teddy bear and was making her way to the garden's benches.

"Hi there," said Rei, as he approached the little girl, "Mind if I sit beside you?"

The little blond girl nodded quietly.

Settling down on the bench, the catboy sighed and looked up to the stars. Aware of the girl's poor sociability yet feeling a great urge to talk, he fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "You sure love this garden, don't you? Well...I just noticed that you come here every night." Still gaining no response, but undaunted, Rei continued, "I can't blame you. Whoever designed this garden sure knows a lot about Feng Shui."

"Feng Shui?" the little girl finally said.

"It's the way of placing things in a certain place to gain good energy. Like this garden, everything is in the right direction and placement. That's why the energy of this place is so warm and inviting, so inviting that even your friend likes it here, right?"

A little surprised from hearing that someone actually acknowledged her teddy bear as a person, Iris said in a slightly different tone, "Yes. He likes it here."

"It's been a long time that I've been seeing him, but you still haven't introduced him to me yet. What's his name?"

"Jean-Paul."

"Oh, Jean-Paul! So you're the gentleman who's always with this little lady. Nice chap..." Reaching out, Rei "shook hands" with the teddy bear. "Nice to meet you, pal. You seemed to be with Iris for quite a long time. Right?"

Iris let out a puzzled look at the raven-haired were-cat.

"And from the looks of it, the two of you have been going places together for quite some time now. I can see that you're going quite well with each other, but aren't you worried that Iris might take you somewhere that you don't like?" Pausing for a while as if to catch a "word" from the teddy bear, Rei said, "oh, sorry for asking such a dumb question. It's very obvious that Iris would as you first, right?"

Suddenly, it all came to him.

_Of course! Why haven't I thought of that?_

Stunned by the profoundness of his realization. Rei went briefly into a daze and came to a decision. Sighing, he patted the teddy bear and said, "I guess I really am stupid. Thank you for reminding me of the one thing that is needed for a relationship with a Holy Beast. Thank you, Jean-Paul. And thank you, Iris..."

The quizzical look on Iris' eyes was replaced by another stunned, surprised look when Rei said,

"To have such a well meaning fellow for a friend, you must be a really kind and loving girl."

As he stood up and walked towards the building, Iris let her gaze follow him as he disappeared into the door. Leaning back onto the bench, she curled up and clutched her teddy bear closer, a mild blush forming on her cheeks.

"Jean-Paul..." she said in her usual half-whispering, quiet tone, "was he telling the truth? Did he really mean to say those things? I don't want to believe it. He looks so scary with his eyes and fangs. He looks like a monster, but..."

"...but his gaze is so warm, and his voice is so gentle."

The little blond girl stared off into the night sky as she said,

"Are the rest of them like that?"

* * *

"What! An audience with our Holy Beasts!"

"But it's possible, right?" said Rei, "If they can talk to us, we can talk to them."

"I don't know," said Takao, "Dragoon is kinda choosy with his vocabulary."

"Same with Draciel," said Max, "the old turtle's still hard to coax from his shell."

"How about you, Kai?"

"Don't ask," said Takao with a smirk, "Dranzer's just as tight beaked as his master."

The boys were making their way towards the grounds' forest park. Knowing that Rei's plan means a vast amount of space, they had figured that this was the safest way to do the task at hand.

"But we all know that we have no choice," said Rei, "If we don't follow their orders, we won't be able to join the battle in the first place."

"Is this the only way we could?" asked Max.

"It IS the only way," said Rei, "Our spiritual energy are based on our Holy Beasts, that's why they have to be taken first as a core for our own mecha units."

The boys stopped at a clearing. The palace seemed so far away behind, much more than enough to make room for the beings that lie dormant in the shiny, metallic tops that they are holding.

"It's now or never," said Takao. The boys looked at each other for the last time. Then, with a resolute motion and a loud "GO SHOOT!" launched their respective Beyblades.

The boys closed their eyes, concentrating their energy into their tops. Please...please hear us...

And true enough, the familiar glow emanated from the tops' bit, sending off a dazzling spectacle of lights into the sky. As the light particles assembled, the shapes that formed were emerging from the blinding flood of light...and the four sacred spirits revealed themselves.

The flash of light attracted the occupants of the palace/studio. When they ran out into the forest to see what it is everybody was stunned to see what was happening. "What are they up to now!" cried Kyoju.

Even Team Hana was stunned with what they saw.

"Is this it, Maria-san!" cried Sakura, "I can't believe it! Those ARE the four sacred spirits!"

"Unbelievable indeed," said Maria, "here we are, seeing these being with our very own eyes, in out very own base!"

Iris snuggled closer against Sakura, obviously frightened with the whole spectacle. The same can be seen on Kohran and Kanna, as their jaws dropped, stunned with what was laid before their eyes. But Major Oogami was watching the whole spectacle with a laid back, easygoing air.

"Looks like they're about to do it," he said.


	10. Prognosis

Ominous looking orbs set their gazes onto the mortals standing below. The unmistakable air of authority has blanketed the grounds as the Sacred Four made their presence felt to all those who can see them. The assertive Dragon first approached the four boys and said in his familiar, ominous voice:

"What do you intend to do by calling us out?"

The four were stunned by the authority that was exuded by the four beings that they were momentarily stunned and couldn't respond...that is, until Max piped up,

"I wish to pass the entrance exam!"

(SFX: KBLOINK! KBLGSHH!)

The people watching the four fell flat on the ground just as the same time as the three hit Max on the noggin. "You're watching too much Fushigi Yugi, bakero(idiot)!"

The other people moaned as Maria mumbled, "The Sacred Four could be in the wrong hands."

"Sorry, I got carried away," said Max, "But Hiromi has a point in liking that show. We have the four gods here."

"For crying out loud!" said Takao, "You're letting that freakin' girly show grow on you! Reality check Maxy: This is NOT the Universe of the Four Gods!"

"Would you guys stop it!" said Rei, "We're not only wasting out time; we're wasting THEIRS as well."

The others looked up and snapped back to sobriety when they remembered that they had called their Bit Beasts for a very important task at hand. Straightening themselves, the four faced the ominous beings in front of them, as the dragon repeated his question. Decisively, Takao strode forward and said in a sober voice:

"We need to talk."

And the boys told the four everything that happened, and the big decision that they have to make. The four being listened intently to every word that the boys said. Finally, the dragon said,

"You children had been chosen for an ominous task at hand, and you were chosen because of the fact that you are the ones that are holding our powers. Everything that is happening is because of us, and it is just that you will decide on our fate."

"But Dragoon!" said Takao, "We can't just put you through that lab thingamajig again. Remember the..."

"What is past is past. No matter how we fight it, what is fated to happen, will happen. We have our trust in you, children, for we have been fighting together for such a long time. We have faith in your competence and the purity of your hearts."

"We have a new obligation," said the phoenix, "and that is to protect humanity together with you."

"We had been witnesses to the battle that the people around you are fighting," said the turtle.

"Whatever you think will help you protect those whom you fight for, we will surely follow you," said the tiger.

"So that means...you are willing...to be..."

"We will be willing to go anywhere you need us to be," said the dragon, as he and the other three beings slowly disappear, "Remember..."

"We trust in you."

As the four Holy Beasts disappeared into their respective beyblades, the boys slowly picked up their tops, still not believing that their Holy Beasts were more willing to follow the order than they themselves were. They were even more surprised when they saw Team Hana and the others making their way towards them.

"No way," said Takao, "You can see them?"

"Uh, yes," Sakura said slowly, also shaken by the whole spectacle. "I just can't believe it...that I can actually see the Sacred Four in my lifetime!"

"What's more unbelievable is that they are in the hands of children like you," said Maria, "Now I know why you were chosen by the Major."

"So you girls have an idea how powerful they are, don't you?" said Major Oogami.

"But that's just a preview," said Lt. Hayata, as he adjusted his glasses for the nth time. "The real deal will be the next few weeks or so, depending on how fast you and your Beasts will progress. Right boys?"

"Huh? Uh...yeah."

"Whoa!" said Kanna, "So that's your power. Wicked!"

"Aiyaa! With all that power on our side, imagine what we can do!' Kohran swooned and said, "No demon will ever mess with us again!"

"And you've got my talent to thank for that," said the Major.

"Hey! No fair!" said Lt. Hayata, face-faulting, "I found the first!"

Everyone laughed.

"Major," said Takao, as he strode forward.

"Yes?"

Holding up his beyblade's Dragoon bit, the blue- haired fellow said, "Dragoon has spoken. He will go." The other three likewise held out theirs. After a few moments of thoughtful silence, the Major said,

"I'm glad that you finally understood."

The Major motioned to Hayata, who brought out and opened a cushioned safety box. Carefully placing the four bits in the cushion and carefully closing it as if the bits were fragile pieces of glass, Hayata said, "I don't need to say this, but as usual, it's customary: Your Beasts are in good hands."

"I'm just wondering," said Sakura, "What kind of Kobu would be made out of those cores?" asked Sakura.

Kohran was wearing a mischievous grin as she said, "It's a surprise. All I can tell you is that it's not like anything that you have seen before." She snickered slyly as her glasses fogged up.

"You know that something's not right when she starts to look like that," said Kanna.

"But whatever it is, I'm still excited that you boys will finally join us soon!" said Sakura. "Soon you will be full fledged members of the Force. Omedetou!"

"What are you talking about!" said Takao, "Having your butt dragged into near suicidal stuff like a war is not something to be congratulated about!"

"Yeah, but being congratulated by a girl is another. Your face is as red as a tomato," Rei pointed out.

"What the heck are you saying!" cried Takao, his face getting redder as Max said, "Admit it. You like her, don't you? You don't need to deny that. It's not as if we have to tell Hiromi."

"SHUT UP!" cried the red-faced, blue-haired fellow as the people around them laughed. Even the usually reclusive Iris seemed to be smiling throughout the boys' bantering.

"But he does have a point," said Maria. "the boys' training will not stop here. In fact, something will be added to your training regimen starting next week. It is the kind that will train you for actual combat."

"Oh well, another chopping block in the course," said Takao, "But what can I do? Dragoon himself wants to join in the fray. And that's the reason why we're here. Right guys?"

"Yep!" said Max, "Draciel's coming, so I might as well be!"

"Same with Driger," said Rei.

"How about you, Kai?"

Smirking, the gray haired fellow said, "Looks like Dranzer's gotten the better of me this time. What else can I do?"

Takao smirked back and said,' Always uptight as usual. But never mind, he's coming anyway." Turning to the Major, he said, "We're ready for anything you throw at us."

"Their spirits are really strong," said Sakura.

"Well, that's expected from the ones that are holding the Sacred Four's powers," said Maria, as she bemusedly watched Kanna, as the latter playfully pressed her fist against Takao's head in another wild exchange of bantering. "And Kanna was right in saying that no matter how we go against it, we can never change the fact that they are fully qualified for the Force. It's no just because of their powers, but because their spirit entity has a common factor that makes the strongly attractive. Just looking at their friendship can rebuild any broken spirit: that is a very vital factor in being a median."

"Oh gee, look at the time," said Hayata, obviously to stop more exchanges of senseless banter. And you all know that you have to gather enough energy for tomorrow. So I'd suggest that we call it a day and turn in for the night." Yawns from some of the gathered youngsters were all that was needed to emphasize this point.

As the group went inside the studio's halls, Max said, "Hey, aren't there supposed to be six of you girls?"

"Now that you've mentioned it, I haven't seen Sumire-san with us," said Sakura, "where could she be?"

"Nah, don't worry about her," said Kanna, "She probably got scared from seeing those things. Serves her right: She should pick someone her own size!"

"But she isn't that big," said Max.

"I was talking about her ego," said Kanna with a wink.

"Oh," the boys chorused in a meaningful tone as they laughed.

"Ahem, before everything else," said Hayata, "we'll be having an overall prognoses tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" "Overall?" "That means..."

"Yep. The boys will go with you too."

"Us! Prognosis!" yelled Takao, then said in a lower voice, "what's a prognosis?"

(SFX:BUGSSSHHHHH)

Everyone briefly fell flat on the floor.

Maria explained, "Uh...it means that you will undergo an overall evaluation on the status of your physical and spiritual powers. Kinda like a routine school check-up, But whatever data we will get will be used to upgrade our fighting machines, the Kobu."

"In this case, your data will be used to MAKE yours," said Hayata.

"All right!" said Takao, "Finally, I'll get to ride on one of those things and kick some monster butt!"

"I can't wait to fly!" said Max.

"There's nothing like good old action," said Rei, as he made his knuckle joints snap.

"Laugh all you want" said Kai with a smirk, "This is a war we're going into, not a carnival."

"It IS a carnival," retorted Takao, again with that weird look in his eyes, "A wild one."

As the group made their way into their rooms and exchanged more pleasantries and bantering, their voices reached the other rooms, resounding with more vibrancy with each passing sound, penetrating even the heavy walls of the farthest ones. Even if she's in the farthest corner of her room, she can still hear Takao's rambunctious whooping. Indeed, it was unbearable for her.

"Miserable street urchins," Sumire muttered, as she turned over in her bed.

Their inclusion was a big pain for her. Even more was their imposing personality. But what she couldn't accept was their increasing popularity with the people around them, including her own team.

"And all because they saw those...those things! So what if they're the Sacred Four? That won't make them any better than the street urchins that they are. And I don't understand why everybody's making such a big fuss over them!"

"All of them...they're all hopeless!"

* * *

"You nervous, guys?" asked Max.

"Uh, a bit," said Rei, as he looked around. "these gadgets are of high-end technology as Kyoju said."

The two divisions, Team Hana and Team Goma, had all been ushered into another one of the massive chambers of the highly technological underground complex. In preparation for the procedure that they are about to undergo, they were all made to wear white gowns and pajamas, not unlike those worn by hospital patients.

"Eh?" said Takao, as he looked up the walls and saw a familiar face at the glass window where the operators were. "Look guys! It's Kyoju!"

Indeed it was Kyoju, wearing a uniform similar to those worn by the other operators.

"Yo! Kyoju!" cried Takao, as he waved at the window.

"Stop it!" said Max and Rei, restraining him. "You're embarrassing us!"

At the window's control, Kyoju sweatdropped and said, "there he goes again," as the female operators around him giggled. Turning to Beckett, he said "I'm sorry, ma'm..."

"It's ok, it's ok," said Beckett, "just tell them what to do."

Sighing, Kyoju sat on his station, took the microphone and said, "Okay everybody, the Major told me that the procedure that we will be using for today's prognosis will be slightly different. Instead of the standard atomic scanners, we will be using the contact capsules instead, so that means,...you have to take all of your clothes off."

"WHAAATT!" The faces of everybody in the hall went red.

"Uh, of course, you'll do that in those capsules," said Kyoju, as he pointed to enclosures gathered at the back part of the chamber.

The people in the chamber heaved a sigh of relief. "Don't scare us like that!"

"But why the contact capsules?" asked Kanna, "Aren't the atomic scanners faster?"

"I think it's because of the boys," said Kohran, "Since their Kobu are yet to be constructed, more detailed data should be given to the CGS's engineers so every aspect of the Kobu's specifications can be accounted for and match with their pilots' specifications. In this case, more complicated equipment like the contact capsule system is needed."

"Okay then" said Kyoju, through the microphone, "the technicians will lead you to the capsules and will hook you up to the system." As he said this, a group of people in lab coats entered the room and led them to the cubicles; the female technicians for Team Hana, and the male technicians for Team Goma.

"I'm warning you," muttered Sumire under her breath, "don't you dare take a peek or else..."

"No way," said Takao, "besides, who would even care to take a peek at your skinny body?"

"Why you..."

As the doors to the enclosures were shut tight, all of the computer programmers and analyzers were told to be on standby. Inside the enclosures, the subjects promptly undressed and lay down inside their respective capsules, and in there the technicians latched the controls onto the respective parts of their body. When this procedure was completed, the capsules were shut tight and they were automatically hoisted onto the chambers' upper shelving.

By that, Beckett said, "Initialize scan!"

In each of the capsule, every connector emitted a warm pulse as it fed its inputted data into the analyzer's computers. Each of the monitors printed out detailed graphs of the subjects' bodies and the corresponding written data. "Physical statistics completed. Moving on to the spiritual statistics," said an operator.

"Initialize scan for spirit statistics!" said Beckett.

Suddenly, a warning horn sounded from one of the monitors. "What's that!"

"Captain, something's wrong with one of the capsules!"

"It seems that the subject may be displaced or was moving too much!"

"Whose capsule is it?" asked Beckett.

"From capsule #65E2: Takao's!"

"What!" Kyoju grabbed the mike and said, "Operator, show the interior of the capsule!"

"Roger!" Holding their breath the throng of computer operators and scientists nervously waited for the showing of the capsule's interior on the main monitor, but all of them facefaulted when they saw the reason for the disturbance...

"Ugh, my nose is so dirty!" said Takao as his right pinky scraped his nostrils.

(SFX:BUGSSSSSHHHHHH!)

The people in the room fell flat on the floor as Kyoju yelled, "TAKAAOOOOOOOO!"

"Huh?" Takao nonchalantly stared at the camera, and with his pinky still in his nostril said, "Are we done yet?"

"JUST FOR ONCE, CAN'T YOU BE SERIOUS!"

The other people in the capsules were facefaulting as well.

"Well, that's Takao for you," said Rei.

Max placed a forehead over his head. "He will never learn."

The others groaned, "Ew..."

"Okay, that's enough," said Beckett, "Takao-kun, if you do another kind of disruption, you'll receive a disciplinary action. So straighten up, we don't have much time."

"Okay fine," muttered Takao.

The people in the control panel went back to their positions and re-typed the command feed. Beckett once more gave the go-signal and the machines started feeding in the subjects' spirit statistics.

"Captain!"

"Why? Did he do something again?"

"No, that's not what I meant! Take a look at this!"

Beckett walked to the unit and took a peek at the monitor. What she saw gave her a knock of surprise. On the chart indicating the four boys' statistics were shown readings that they have never seen before.

"Unbelievable!" cried the operator, "These are record breakers! Their spiritual energy coefficients are off the charts!" The other operators yammered among themselves in astonishment.

Beckett stared at the monitors and said, "In terms of statistics maybe. But we can't really say for now if they can be that effective in actual combat. But I have to admit that those engineers have a reason to make their Bit Beasts the cores of the Blade Armor series. Even the Ryoshin crystals can't withstand such amounts of power."

As soon as the operators had printed out the readings, Beckett ordered the procedure to end. Having said this, the capsules where promptly lowered down to the cubicles, and a few minutes later, the two teams were making their way out of the testing chambers. The girls' conversation was dominated by Takao's unsanitary act, and whatever else they can say about it.

"Just here them talk about it, "said Kyoju, who met up with them a while ago, "aren't you ashamed of what you did! Oh, I guess you don't know the meaning of shame unless it means being beaten in a Beybattle...hey Takao! Are you listening!"

"Wha? A...Ah, what is it?"

"Hey what's wrong?" asked Max, "What's with the blank daze?"

"Well...uhh...never mind!" Takao walked faster and soon, broke into a run as he said, "Catch you later!"

The others stared at each other. "What's eaten him?"

As soon as he reached the central hall, the blue haired fellow slowed down, as he stared thoughtfully at the massive chandeliers. _I don't know what's going on, but...what was that voice I heard? It's not from the Captain, or the girls,... it sounds very familiar that for some reason...I felt scared when I heard it._

_What was that?_


	11. Violet Malevolence

That evening, at the Major's office.....

Beckett entered the office and gave the routine salute. Afterwards, she brought out a thick envelope and said, "Sir, these are the results of yesterday's prognoses."

The Major took the envelope and pored over its contents. "Hmm, looks like Team Hana's readings haven't changed for the past months."

"Any problem with that, Sir?"

"Well...none really. They can still hold out on their own at this rate." Turning the pages of the document, he stopped halfway, apparently taken by surprise by what he had seen on that page. "Whoa! So THIS is what those boys are made of. Their coefficient figures are those of equally qualified soldiers twice their ages!"

"But it's too early to say whether they can be effective in actual combat or not," said Beckett.

"I know, I know," said the Major. "Turning the page, he said, "What have we here? Oh, the overall character evaluation. Hmm, from the way this was written, I'd say the researcher had found the subjects interesting, which by the way, is what these boys really are."

"That I have to agree with," said Beckett, "Kinoshita is really good at evaluating a person's character. She had documented everything: strengths, weaknesses, and even some hidden talents."

"Really now," said the Major, as he pored over the papers, "and she even included their performing skills. Let's see...."

"Dancing is Rei's major strength, due to the well-developed body coordination that he had gained from his martial arts training since childhood. So his Kobu must have a strong and fast machine-to-pilot response to keep up with his speed and agility."

"Both in the theater and Beybattles, Max always maintains a sunny, childlike air, which hides any sign of good war strategy skills. And since he is of the defensive type, the best Kobu for him is the one that can readily synchronize with his feelings, especially in times when he feels that his friends are in danger, in which he builds up a great desire to protect them. A Kobu with an advanced wide-range shielding system can readily answer that need."

"Always pensive but direct, Kai always means business. Having a direct balance between singing and dancing, the same can be said of his preferred battle gear: a balance of offense and defense. He needs a no-nonsense Kobu that also strikes the same balance for a direct type of offensive that he will likely undertake.'

"A gung-ho, in-your-face attitude is what dominates Takao's style. His imposing personality can be felt both in the theater and in the base itself. Unfortunately, this is the main reason why he leaps before he looks. He needs a Kobu that can rapidly change back and forth from an offensive to a defensive type, to compensate for the said weakness."

"From the report, I would say that among them, Takao has the lowest battle capability," said Beckett.

"In terms of attitude maybe. But we cannot overlook his statistics, which show that he has the strongest spirit entity. Not to mention that his kendo skills is not something to scoff at," said the Major, "I think it's a mistake to think these boys are chosen just because they can spin overblown, exploding tops."

"Major..." said Beckett, obviously affected by these words.

"Don't worry. I was not talking about you. I was thinking of what I should say to those hotshots in the International Council. They don't seem to understand why I have chosen these boys. It's not really fair for them: they're fully qualified, but are not taken seriously because of their age. Maybe because those old biddies don't want to accept the fact that there are times that kids can do the job at hand better than we adults could....oh sorry Beckett-kun. I didn't mean to bore you again with one of my speeches."

"No, sir, it's OK," said Beckett. "I find it wonderful how much you put your trust into those boys."

"Well, that's what I must do for now. They are the only ones who have the capability to unite the girls' spirits; a vital unity that seemed to be lost when they were put to cold sleep...."

"They have to. And I believe that they CAN."

* * *

Three weeks after.....

Morning, at the Teito Broadcasting Studios.

Loud wood-to-wood snapping and loud cheering can be heard from the training hall of the Studios. Even if this was nothing more than a simple sparring, a friendly match, the combatants seemed to be really serious in the game. Indeed, the two were so well matched that the combatants, composed mostly of the other Studio recruits, found it hard to decide on whom to root for. The match ended in a draw, with the combatants pointing their wooden swords at each other's noses. At that, the audience gave out a loud cheering and applause.

"Thanks. You're good!" said Sakura.

"You too," said Takao, holding out his hand, "Put 'em there!"

Rather surprised, but smiling nevertheless, Sakura let out her hand and did the handshake.

"Amazing!" said one of the onlookers, "Not only is he a great Beyblader, he also rocks at kendo!"

"His skill is equal to that of Sakura's," said another.

"But the sparring match between Kanna-sempai and Rei-sempai was awesome!" said yet another, "They were flying all over the room like supermen. And they're equally matched too!"

"And what was funny was when Kanna-sempai said that Rei-sempai was a complete were cat. Who wouldn't say that? Not only does his fangs and odd eye color show it, but also his nimbleness and the sheer height of his jump can be seen in a cat. Or a tiger."

"And all that adds to his charm factor as we can see," said another, as the female onlookers were starting crowding around Rei, fussing over him.

"What is all that noise about?!" a familiar voice rang through the doorway.

"Oh, Sumire-san!" said Sakura. True enough it was her, who was making her way into the training hall with her naginata. "Are you gonna practice with us?"

"In your dreams!" said the violet-haired lady, "And what are these low-rankers doing here? Only front-line divisions are allowed here. Go to you own training room!"

"That Sumire is really a meanie!" said one of the girls in the crowd.

"Yeah," said another, "I can't believe that she's the network's top star!"

"Oi Sumire, that's not nice," said Kanna, "They're just watching here."

"Watching?! What are they watching!?"

"Well, you see," Maria puts in, "We had arranged a sparring match between Team Hana and Team Goma for the morning. You should've come earlier: these boys are really good."

"Good? Those street rats? O-HOHOHOHOHO!" with a mocking laughter, Sumire proclaimed, "Good with their overblown spinning tops that is!"

"But it's not about their Beyblades," said Maria, "It's about their fighting skills."

"Oh spare me," said Sumire, "Aside from spinning those toys, the only thing that these street urchins know is to break things apart and make trouble. I don't see any good reason to waste my time on them."

"Maybe you don't WANT to see the reason."

The people in the hall were surprised to hear Kai speak out after staying quiet for the whole period, even more when they saw him walk towards the violet-haired lady.

"Oho! It's the face-painted scalawag."

The gray haired fellow's crimson eyes established deep contact with hers as he said, "You always talk so tough and above-it-all, but are you sure that's the reason why you push newbies around?" In typical tough guy fashion, he moved his chin forward and said, 'Or is it that you're scared that we might be better than you are?"

"I am not the least bit intimidated," said Sumire, "Why will I stoop down to the level of low-life street rats that know nothing but to live off the Major's and Assistant Commander's generosity?"

"Sumire!" Maria said warningly, but the violet-haired woman cut her off and said,

"I'm not stupid: why did the Assistant Commander choose blatantly unqualified street urchins and let them stay here? And aren't you wondering why he chose conspicuously good-looking ones at that? It's simple; because he 'loves' children, and he wants these urchins to be of his 'service' when the time comes."

"Sumire!" cried the Team Hana, aghast by what she said. Gasps can be heard across the room, followed by tones of indignation. Even Takao couldn't stand what she said and lashed out, shouting, "How dare you!" but Max and Rei held him back.

"No," said Rei, "That is exactly what she's planning you to do. Just don't go down to her level."

"But guys...."

A strange, sad look was on Max's eyes. "Don't. She's acting bad enough. Don't make it any worse."

"Oh, the truth really hurts doesn't it?" said Sumire, "A figure of authority using the Force to satisfy his morbid desires. I am not blind, and I can see through all of you. If you know any better, you'll leave this place and go back to the streets where you really belong!"

Everybody was yammering in indignation and demanded Sumire to take back what she said, but were silenced when suddenly, Kai had burst out into a long, loud and mocking laughter, more mocking than hers.

"Oh, that's a good one! It's hard to believe that it came from an ill-humored jerk like you." Straightening up, he said, "That proves to say that you're just an insecure dog who's afraid of losing her manger to needier horses. And those horses happen to be wild stallions who're gonna kick a bitch like you from the throne."

Ticked from being called a bitch, Sumire said, "You watch your mouth, ruffian! You don't know whom you're talking to!"

"Oh yes I do know: a bitch in the manger by the name of Sumire Kanzaki."

"THAT'S IT!" Threateningly slamming her naginata on the floor, she yelled, "I'll make you pay dearly for insulting me!"

"Ah, so you're finally accepting my challenge," saying this, Kai brought out his short sword and pointed it at her, "Now let's see if your bite is worse than your bark."

"It's not you who I want." Sumire walked towards the gathered people and pointed at someone.

"IT'S YOU!"

Everybody was startled whan the saw that it was Max whom she wanted. Even he himself was surprised. "Who? Me?"

"Hey wait!" said Kai, "I'm the one challenging you, not him!!"

"You ruffians all look like a tough bunch, all except for him. He's quite childish for his age, trying to cozy up to everyone and hiding behind them. If he wants to prove otherwise, he has to defeat me on a one-on-one duel. So, are you up to the challenge.....sugar boy?"

Everybody voiced out their concern, as Maria said, "Enough. I'm going to call the Major."

"No, Maria-san."

Surprised to hear the tone of dignity in his voice, the people in the hall were awed as Max looked directly into Sumire's eyes and said, "I accept your challenge."

"But Max!"

"If this is the only way she would stop picking on us....no, on everyone else in the Studio, I have to defeat her." Moving forward, he said, "Surely you will stop picking on us if I win, right?"

"But if I win," said Sumire, "You will do whatever I say. Surely I will make you feel sorry that you will leave this place without notice."

"I don't want to do this," said Max, "But you leave me with no choice."

Everybody held their breaths as Max brought out a shiny red staff, with a round, red sphere at one end and a sharp, pointed receptacle at the other.

"Whoa!! Where did he get THAT!?" cried Takao.

"That staff kinda looked familiar," said Kanna.

The two combatants positioned themselves at the center of the hall amidst the crowd forming at the door. When Maria gave them the go-signal, the two charged at each other with such speed that it took long for the audience to realize what's going on.

"Whoa! Just look at that! Both are really good!"

"I never expected a kid to hold his own against the Kanzaki Fujin-style!"

Kyoju was analyzing the battle scene with is laptop. A few minutes later, he said, "Everyone! Take a look at this!!" Everybody gathered around the laptop s the bespectacled beanpole said, "Amazing! Max is using the rounded end of his staff to fend off the direct attacks of Sumire's naginata, and in such a high speed at that!"

"Wow..."

"But he cant go on shielding against those attacks forever," said Takao.

The two combatants, on the other hand, were intensely going at each other.

"I see that you got some fight in you," said Sumire, as she continued her attacks, "But you can't avoid my blade's attack forever!"

"I don't intend to," said Max, as he continued to fend them off.

"I'm getting tired of playing with you! Let's end this quickly! KANZAKI FUJIN-STLE BUTTREFLY DANCE!!"

"You're wide open!! RETURN VOLITION!"

Without warning, Max slid his hand onto the center of the staff, made it twirl and meet the naginata's incoming blade. The two weapons collide with a loud clang as they crossed with each other. The following events were fast: Sumire made a horizontal swipe, but Max jumped with a considerable height to avoid it, and he in turn attempted to stab her with the sharp end of his staff, which Sumire quickly avoided. Then, she made another round of attacks, all of which Max repelled by making his staff twirl at high speed.

"Whoa. Just look at Max gun down on her," said Rei.

"Yah," said Takao with a stunned look, "No kidding. I won't even think of arguing with him again," he said as he stared at the slices on the walls from Sumire's naginata and the cracks on the wood-and-cement layered floor from Max's staff. It didn't take long before they delivered their final attack....with such speed, that.....

All were caught unawares when a few seconds later, they realized that the naginata's blade and the staff's sharp end had been broken off, flown away and landed on the ceiling of the training hall.

"IT'S A DRAW!"


	12. Whatever comes

The people in the hall watched as Max slowly got up, walked across the hall and approached Sumire.

"That was a really good battle we got there," said the freckle-face in a gentler tone, "I guess no condition will be met, so it's a win-win situation. You're very good, Sumire." Holding out his hand, he said, "Put 'em there!"

The violet-haired lady stared at the hand, still shocked from what just happened. But when she realized what Max wanted to do at that moment….all were caught unawares when they saw her slap the freckle-faced boy with such force that he fell to the ground.

"MAX!" Everyone ran to help the fallen boy.

Sakura helped Max sit up and facing Sumire, said, "How could you? What has he done!"

With an enraged look in her eyes, Sumire breathed, "If there's one thing that I hate the most, it's outright sarcasm!"

"Sarcasm!" Cried Kanna, "Even if you don't deserve it, he's just trying to be nice!"

"Nice? Oh stop being so naïve!" hissed the violet-haired woman, "he knows that he can't win, so he plays out the sweetsy kid just to save face. But I know that deep inside, he's filled with contempt from the fact that he can't be in my level!"

"In your level? Look who's talking!" said Takao, "You have no idea of how low you have stooped this time!"

"Yeah!" said someone from the watching crowd, "How can your heart be so rotten!" and everyone yammered the same, but were silenced when they saw that the Captain was walking into the hall.

"Captain!" said Maria, "Let me explain…."

"It's OK," said Beckett, "I heard everything."

Max stood up and faced her. "Captain," he said in a broken voice, "I'm…..so sorry…." Sakura was afraid that he might cry at any minute then.

The captain slowly put her head on his blond crown, and said, "It's OK. You did well."

Letting out a surprised look,then slowly smiling, Max said, "….thank you!"

"What!" cried Sumire, "Captain, what's the meaning of this? Are you defending that…."

Beckett silenced her with a slap.

"Whoa," muttered Dizzi in a minimized volume, "they're having a slap marathon, that much I know."

"I expected a lot more from a daughter of the great Kanzaki zaibatsu," said Beckett in a hard voice, "So I couldn't believe how vulgar your way of thinking had become. Has the time-freeze made you lose your decency and respect! I know that you don't like the boys, but never did it cross my mind that your dislike would actually go THIS far! Now, how are you going to justify yourself when you explain things to the Major?" A definitive silence in the hall followed.

Finally, Sumire said, "I understand." She threw away the stick that was her naginata, turned and walked away.

"Sumire-kun!" cried Beckett, "This will be the last time that you will turn your back on me!"

"Indeed it will, because I have no intention of reporting. I'm leaving."

"Leaving!" "But to where?"

"I'll think of it later. What's important is that I'd get out of this place that I never want to be part of. If this theater is going to be taken over by such despicable standards by those urchins, count me out by the moment the Kagekidan falls apart."

"Sumire-kun!" cried Beckett.

But she was gone.

The people in the hall mumbled among themselves with what they heard. "Is it true that she's leaving?" "Whoa, that's terrible," Nah serves her right. She's such a pain in the ass."

"Everybody," said Sakura, "I don't think it's a good idea to say that."

"STOP IT!"

Everybody was silenced when they heard Max shout.

"Max!" "But why?"

"After all that she's done to you, how you're still defending her!" Takao asked incredulously.

"It's OUR fault. She said those things because we pushed her to. And…..I feel sorry for her. When I learned about Team Hana's bio data, I found out that Sumire was particularly close to her father and respects him so much. I know that the cold sleep has Irreversibly taken you away from whomever you left in your period and all of you have some difficulty coping, but I can feel that Sumire is suffering the most. I can feel it whenever she's saying and doing those mean things to the people around her. But it's sad; because in the end, she will be the one to suffer from the consequences of her actions, alone…….."

"Max,…"" Sakura said softly, as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

The captain laid a hand on his head once again and said, "I understand how you feel," but was cut short when Max looked up, and with another "Mokona face" said, "But at least she said we were good-looking!"

Everyone fell flat on the floor and berated Max for ruining his good drama moment.

"But it's an improvement! She acknowledged that we're good looking!" then Max straightened up and said, "But really, we are one team. If any of us goes away, it will spell disasters for the Force, right? Fighting can only destroy us."

"Don't take it upon yourself, Max."

"Takao?"

Now I get what you mean. I have completely forgotten how we got through everything in the Beybattles we faced and got us as far as here. It's time that our friendship had extended beyond our team," saying this, he turned to the captain and said, "Captain, I want to talk to the Major. I want to ask him not to send Sumire away, and that we'll take responsibility." And the two teams chorused in agreement.

Beckett looked at them, first with puzzlement, and then slowly, she smiled. _I think I can see what the Major is trying to tell me._ She said. "All right then."

"Captain!" "Thank you!"

* * *

The Major's office was jam packed with spectators, but was nearly dead-silent when the two main teams told the Major what happened that morning, along with their plea of not sending Sumire away. After each of them gave their own say on why it should be so, the Major mulled over everything that they said for a long time. Finally, he said,

"I understand."

The people before him looked hopeful and said, "So you're not sending her away?"

"Not quite."

"What!" Everyone suddenly looked anxious.

"Well," said the Major, "Whether she'll stay or not is not for us to decide."

"What do you mean?"

"Technically, what she did will not merit an expulsion. A suspension, maybe, but she'll not be sent away, that's for sure. But it is still up to her to whether accept what is happening around her, or sulk in the past."

"So you mean to say that we should give her more space or something?"

"Something like that." The Major looked intently at all of them and said, "What I mean to say is, we should give her more breathing space. From that point on, she can decide whether she'll stay, or leave.'

* * *

At the CGS Heavy Works, the final touches were given to the four shiny new Kobu units, as the computer analyzers, and engineers were double-checking them to see whether they missed something or not. Seeing that everything was taken care of, they finished the new units as quickly as they can, and carefully manipulated the cranes as not to damage the units, placing them in the massive cargo caboose of the GZ-Goraigo, the conveyor train of the Force. As soon as they were all loaded, the train departed with a loud, ominous roar, as it sped towards the main base, the Broadcast Studio.

"Kotetsu Hana sure is a break for us huh?" Said one of the train's operators. A tall, well-built fellow with a black mullet, his arms are long enough to reach the switches on the higher parts of the control window. "There's really a lot of thrill that goes with carrying a high-priority cargo than mere pieces of junk, eh, Escosas-kun?"

"I wouldn't say that," said Escosas, a lanky young man with reddish hair and tanned skin, as he intently kept his hands on the steering knobs. "A delivery job is a job, period. We have to deliver the goods whether they're gold bars or pieces of excrement."

"Ah, you're still as serious as ever. You even keep your eyes on the tracks too much. Hey, this is a subway, not a multi-lane traffic lane! And you don't have to watch out for red lights!"

"And you're still as laidback as ever, Steinbach," retorted Escosas, "You should stop worrying about me and worry about your younger brother instead. I heard he was making a lot of trouble in the Power Section…."

"Jed is a grown man. He can take care of himself. You're the one who should worry. Your younger sister's quite a fussy brat. You should remind her that this is a military base, not a playground in which she can run around freely."

"You're right" said the red-haired man as he sighed. "Time and again, I always have to remind Lilin to behave herself. After all, there's nowhere else we can go to." The two men fell silent as the train sped towards the base.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Captain was accompanying the visiting guests inside the studios. Not only was it a visitation trip, as the chairman explained that he had some important documents to deliver to the Major, which contains the BBA's own findings to the incidents involving the increase of Wakiji activity. "It seems that whatever your Force is going through is directly related to the increase of people with sizeable levels of spiritual power, like the boys are. What bothers me is that a good number of them are upper class Beybladers, like the boys are!"

"And whoever our enemy is, they must be after those people," said Beckett, "judging from the Wakiji's assault on the boys about six months ago. They're lucky that they can be protected here, but….the others…."

"Your job must be really tough, Ma'm," said Hiromi, who was also carrying her share of documents.

"Indeed it is. Aside from maintaining the whole city of Tokyo, we have to keep our main assault team from repelling each other. They are pretty strong personalities as we can see.'

"You mean those girls?" asked the Chairman. "I can see the problem. Even with the installations of medians, like you say Takao and the rest are, they must really have a hard time reconciling each personality. It's as if each of those girls have her own world!"

"Indeed it is," said Beckett as she punched in her access card through various entrance points in the next halls, "And as of now, one of them is currently our problem. "Up to now, I still can't believe that a high born lady such as Sumire could actually harbor such vulgar thoughts against the boys!"

"Why am I not surprised?" said Hiromi, "She's a human eater. So what did she do this time?"

And the Captain told them of what happened that morning.

The Chairman and Hiromi were nonetheless appalled with what was said to them. "That Sumire Kanzaki! She has really gone too far!" cried Hiromi. "The nerve of her to say such a disgusting thing about the boys!"

"But what's more surprising is that the boys not only forgave her, but even pleaded for her not to be sent away." Chairman Daitenji said with a raised eyebrow. "The only possible explanation for that would seem that somehow, the boys have actually developed a certain liking of those girls."

"Now that's weird," said Hiromi, "Takao usually has low opinions of girls, especially me."

"I think you're underestimating them a little," said Beckett, "In my opinion, the boys were acting like people twice their ages. Just think: after a heated argument like that, what immature person would ever think of taking responsibility?"

"Takao? Mature? No way!" said Hiromi.

"I don't think so," said the Chairman, "there are times that people change without warning." Turning to the Captain, he said, "You certainly have a lot of trust in them, Ms. Beckett."

"Not really. I had a huge doubt about their emotional readiness for our kind of environment when they first came here, but when I saw what happened this morning, I became a believer."

In the Major's room, the Chairman presented the documents and discussed its contents. Hiromi was sitting on a nearby couch as the grownups discussed the events that transpired in the past days. _Within those windows were the rooms where the boys were working hard each day,_ she thought, as she stared at the windows facing the one that she was looking through. _I wonder… it must be really hard for them._

"Hiromi?"

So deep was she in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Beckett was already in front of her.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" said Hiromi, as she stood up. "What is it?"

"The Major is asking you if you want to see the boys now."

"Oh? Can I?"

"They're down at the hangar, trying on their Kobu uniforms." Said the Major. "Their Kobus are due to arrive to day.

"You mean like those outfits that the girls wear in their robots?"

"Something like that."


	13. Mechas at Bey

"Wooow…." said Hiromi as she surveyed the awesome sight around her. The highly technological setting that she just entered is off-limits to ordinary mortals who do not have the Key to the Pearly Gates known as the Access Code, and that alone was enough to take her breath away. "We're almost there…." Said Beckett, as they approached the rows of huge shelving that apparently held the assault vehicles of the base.

As they were nearing their destination, one can clearly hear the voices of another round of bantering.

"Look at me! I'm Don Camote!"(A.N.: camotesweet potato)

"You mean Don Quijote?" "Whatever!"

"But you do look like a sweet potato."

"Really? Watch out! Don Camote's gonna take down the she dragon!"

"ARGH! Get that thing away!"

"Playing with Max's staff is dangerous! Stop that!"

"Hey straighten up. The Major is coming."

As Hiromi's view went to their destination, she was taken by a knock of surprise by the sight that met her. Along with the girls whose faces she can barely recall, there were the boys, who were wearing the awesome, Industrial Revolution Era-inspired outfits that became the trademark in this Force. As Hiromi looked closer, she noticed that while the girls' uniform was simpler and the outer jacket was up to their waist; the boys' uniform has a high collar accented by a neat-looking ascot tie, the outer jacket was up to the crotch line, the belt was on the exterior and the shoulder parts have epaulets.

"Oh look who's here. It's your girlfriend!" teased Kanna.

"I TOLD YOU SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" yelled Takao.

"Yo Hiromi! Long time no see!" said Max. "So what's up?" Excitedly, Hiromi and the boys met up and started chatting, as Hiromi gushed over the 'coolness' of the boys' uniforms.

"So the groupie's paying a visit, huh?"

Hiromi looked back and saw Kyoju and Hiroya wearing similarly designed outfits, but both are in light blue, like those worn by the girls in the control centers.

"Wow! Even you're gonna be riding in one of those things?"

"Er, no" said Kyoju, "We're riding a repair craft. You see, we're on the technical side."

"A job for geniuses like us." Said Hiroya.

"Genius my anus. Just say that you're not as powerful as we are."

"Why you…."

"Now, now boys…." Said Beckett.

"But nevertheless, those uniforms are the coolest!" said Hiromi, "I love it!"

"What do you mean!" Takao said incredulously, "This is actually one of the lamest outfits for a mecha that I've seen! Can you say mulberry-bush-chopper-era?"

"Well, it's far better than the 'ultraelectromagnetic era'. You know; those colored spandex thingies with a big 'V'!"

The boys face faulted as they conjured an image of what she described.

Then, one of the attendants announced that the Kobu units have arrived and will be delivered shortly.

"And about time too!" said Kohran, "I told all of you that the boys' Kobu are nothing like you have seen before, right?"

"Uh, yes. Why?"

"You'll see what I mean in just a few minutes," said Kohran, with a mischievous grin on her face.

"I don't like the look on her face I tell you," said Kanna, as everyone in the hall expectantly stared at the conveyor shaft, which automatically rolled in the set of machinery that they were waiting for. But after the said objects finally came into view, they all face faulted when they saw their "…..unorthodox image," as Beckett managed to say.

Unorthodox it is. For even as the upper trunk resembled the other Kobu units in the base, the lower half of this batch has six legs, making it appear to have a humanoid spider appearance.

"See? I told you it's unlike anything you've seen before!'

"Indeed it is! Tell me Kohran-kun, how can you expect anyone to operate a Kobu with more than two legs!"

"Yeah, that would make us look awful!" said Takao, as he imagined the mechas stumbling around. "How are we supposed to fight like that?"

"Relax, relax" said Kohran. "The lower half has been programmed to match a spider's leg movement. What's more, it even has a "Skid Mode", which allows it to glide across a flat plane with little effort, a time and energy conserving method in situations such as chases on roads, highways or anywhere there is pavement!"

"Interesting," said Maria, as she surveyed the batch of Kobus lined up before them.

"And it doesn't stop there!" By that, Kohran gave a signal to the operators at the command center. Immediately, the blue and white Kobu's arms folded in, the head sunk back a little, the legs bunched up in an elaborate fashion, and sharp, blade like projectiles emerged from around the Kobu's shoulder area.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"A GIANT BEYBLADE!"

"You've got it!" said Kohran. "The engineers at CGS heavy Industries got the inspiration from the Sairan Coliseum incident five months ago. If you've forgotten, that's when Sumire-han's Kobu spun like a Beyblade. We have seen that it is an unorthodox yet effective way to add to our advantage against the enemy!"

"You mean….that thing will spin with us in it?" Takao said incredulously.

"Sort of."

The four boys got nauseous at the prospect of another ride in a spinning Kobu.

"Don't worry!" said Kohran. "The central cockpit is designed to move separately from the rest of the body. Besides, we don't want you puking around here." The boys heaved a sigh of relief as everyone else laughed.

The rest of the day was spent in the expansive, park-like grounds of the Studios that also served as a testing ground for the new Kobu units. As the visitors watched in the safety of the spacious maintenance craft, the Vitalis 635, the four boys literally stumbled their way into mastering their Kobus' controls. Even if they had undergone the simulation training, they have to adjust their minds to the Kobu's perspective, and one wrong step will, and does, hurt a lot. Takao proved this, as he held his derriere that was still smarting from Kanna's punch.

"I told you not to let your guard down." said Kanna.

"I know, I know,…(ow)" muttered the blue-haired fellow.

Next was the Beyblade mode. Although the cockpit did stay still, controlling the direction of the spin was another. The four mechs always end up bumping on racks, into trees or into each other. With their spin power all lost, the Kobus fell on their sides.

"You know guys," said Max, as he blankly stared at the ceiling, "All the racing games combined are kiddy games compared to this." The other three likewise stared blankly and nodded.

"Oh you dunces!" Kohran shook her head.

"Give them a break," said Kanna, "they're just new in the game."

"Okay, that's enough," said Maria. "Get up boys; we don't have much time." The boys groaned, but regardless, did as they were told.

In the maintenance craft, the observers watched bemusedly at the rookies' antics. "They sure have a long way to go," said the Chairman with a shrug.

"Are you sure they can make it before the time the enemies attack, Major?" asked Beckett. "It looks like they haven't even got a grasp on the Kobu's controls."

"I'm afraid we have no choice," said the Major, "They have to master the Kobu as soon as possible, because it's clear from the BBA reports that the enemies will not be waiting for us."

"True," said Beckett, "as you said, those boys are our only hope."

Hiromi sighed as she overheard the grownups' conversation._ They sure have a lot of faith in them, but can the boys live up to their...no, the battlefields' standards?_

"Are you worried?" said Hiroya, who was at the ship's controls.

"Wha! Uh, no! I mean…..how did you know?"

"Your sighs are obvious. But remember this: we are not staking our lives if we don't know what we're going into."

"You maybe right, but,…"

"Trust me," said Hiroya, looking straight at her, "I know. I'm a genius."

Hiromi stared at him quizzically, but Kyoju also glanced her way and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You boys sure are more confident than anyone else around here," said Hiromi, as she watched the boys in their Kobus, still stumbling, yet just as determined to get through this.

* * *

"ARGH!"

Pounding her fist onto the National Trust Fund Center's android-controlled counter, Sumire ranted, "You useless metal contraption! That money is meant for me! Why can't you execute such a simple order!"

"I'm sorry ma'm," said the robot agent, "But you're not to receive the money until you have officially resigned from the Kagekidan. You are officially enlisted as of now, so there's nothing I can do."

"Enough! Don't you know who you're talking to!"

"They don't; that's why they are effective as fund agents."

Sumire's head snapped towards the direction from which the voice came from "And just who are you?" she demanded, as a young man with razzled, platinum white hair walked into the Center's hall.

The man stared straight at her and with a slight smirk, said, "Let's just say that I have been assigned to watch everyone's moves. And as you can see, these babes know better than you do. You know you can't touch your family's money until you find yourself a better job that strutting on stage."

"Well I have just resigned! Why can't they understand that!"

"It's you who doesn't understand. You're NOT officially off the Kagekidan. Face it; you can't do anything else now than to return to the base like a good girl."

Sumire seethed with anger, then sighed. Picking up her luggage, she flounced past him and said in a lower tone, "Tell the Major that he's not yet won. I still have lots of connections that he hasn't heard of." And with that, she stepped out of the building.

The silver-haired man just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hayata's right. That woman is a nut, and a hard one at that." At that moment, a young woman with short black hair, and a mole below her right eye just like Sumire's, walked in the hall and joined him "I heard everything. Yep, that woman is impossible. No wonder no one in the base can put up with her."

"I don't think that's the case," said the young man, as he handed over his account card to the android teller, "If it is so, then she would've got the money then and there. I know you're wondering why they would put up with such a pain in the ass like her. It seems that she has a lot of use to those big-shots since after all, she's the only surviving member of the Kanzaki zaibatsu and inevitably, the key to the clan's moolah."

"Ah, you are a true-blue mercenary as always, my dear King." Said the woman in a syrupy voice.

"Well I should be. How can our new Beyblading career survive without cash, my dear Queen?"

"It was our biggest break to have this information scouting job. Nothing could be sweeter than a fat paycheck and a truckload of nifty Beyblade parts….and the best part is that, it's all legal!"

"And light years better than stealing crappy parts….."

* * *

"Looks like you guys are pretty beaten up."

The boys walked out of their Kobu units in a rather dejected fashion. Indeed, the tedious process of mastering their units has riveted their minds and found it hard to stand straight.

"Running these sure looked a lot easier than it actually is," said Rei, as he slumped against a railing.

"Your brains are still adjusting to the Kobus' reality," said Kohran, "When your minds were hooked up to the system, not only were you adjusting to what their eyes see, but also to what their hearts feel."

"Heart!"

"Oh get off my case," said Takao, "how can these things have a heart?"

"Who was it that said that Beyblades have a heart?" Hiromi cut in.

"Who asked your opinion!"

"But she's actually right," said Kyoju, "Your mechas HAVE a heart. Remember that it's your Holy Beasts that lie within those hunks of steel.'

"Exactly," said Kohran, "Those beings are what gives your units hearts. You said once that in Beyblading, you have to unite with your tops, right?"

"For the last time, they are not TOPS! They are BEYBLADES!"

"Just getting even," said Kohran, and then said in a more sober voice, "It's the same thing as running the Kobu. You have to unite yourselves with them. Not only will you have to give them your thoughts, but also your feelings! Only the will they trust you and give you their full power!" But seeing that the boys could only give her a blank stare, she tore at her hair and grumbled, "You kids are totally dense beyond belief!"

"Hey take it easy," said Kanna, "Like I said, they're just new to the game."

"But…"

"Considering their age," said Maria, "their minds still have difficulty coping with battle related stress. Let's give them some time to adjust…"

"Thank you for your concern," said Rei, as he stood up, "but I don't want to be a cause for drawback."

"But Rei…"

"After all, we ARE soldiers in a battlefield. Sure, we're newbies. But that doesn't make us less obligated to master this guy." As he said this, he hopped back into his unit, "Besides, Driger's in here as you said."

"Same goes for me," said Max, as he hopped back into his unit as well, "I don't want to disappoint my ol' turtle. And he's the one who said that he wants to join you guys in battle."

As usual, Kai didn't say a word, but he hopped back into his unit as well.

"But you don't need to," said Maria, "It's not a good thing to force yourselves in that state…."

"I don't understand a word that Kohran said, but something in me says that I've got to do this, no matter what," said Takao, as he hopped back into his unit. "Besides, you seem to be underestimating us." As the boys were latching on the cockpit's connectors to their uniforms' outlets, everyone else in the hall stared at each other.

"Hey! Don't you think the idea of battle has gotten into your heads!" cried Hiromi, "You don't have any idea what your going into!"

"Chill out. We are not allowed to be defeated, much less fall back. Besides, we have no intention of making Sumire clean up after us."

By those words, everyone knew that the boys have totally no intention of antagonizing, much less forget their difficult comrade.

"But guys!" said Hiromi, but the Chairman laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Let them be, Hiromi. You know those boys; once they want something, there's no stopping them."

Sakura sighed and said, "I envy them. They're a lot braver than me eighty years back."

"Correction: They're a lot braver than ANY of us now," said Maria, "And we can't say that they have no idea of what they're going into, since they have been in it ever since the Sairan Coliseum incident. But I guess, their main motivation is that those beings that they have a strong attachment to, are in their units."

"Nevertheless," said Kanna, "it's still a wonder how they have forgiven the snake lady so easily," The quiet Iris just stared at the boys in their units, her thoughts apparently echoing Kanna's.

Kohran stared thoughtfully at them, then arrived at an idea.

"Hey boys! Get down from there!" she shouted as she strode up the main ramp. "I have an idea that might just work!"

"Eh?" The boys stood up in their cockpits.

Kohran snickered and asked the Major, "Project E557 is almost done right?"

"Yes. Why, do you intend to use it now?"

Beckett turned into squish head, bug-eyed mode. "Are you serious!"

"Oh yes I am," said Kohran, "Very serious."


End file.
